The Love of Four
by Phantom Shyraz
Summary: Sequel to "Study in Romance". One chilly evening after Shinichi's enjoyable dinner with Kaito (and subsequently solving a crime afterwards), he came across a red robed fortune-teller who managed to pick out Shinichi's insecurities.
1. Dream Come True?

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: Seeing as I've had a few reviews wanting a sequel to Study in Romance, here's what I've knocked up for now. It's a bit outside of the box and well...yea...I think I must have hit my head accidentally sometime these few months for me to come up with something so absurd. Anyways, if you haven't read Study in Romance, I do suggest you to read it seeing as it's actually related (I had to reread it myself to ensure continuity so hopefully not too many plot holes...for now).

Recap: Shinichi was (un)fortunately forced to wear a little black dress and put on a female persona to accompany his mother to a function, which happened to have received a supposed KID heist notice. Upon attendance, Shinichi was _lucky_ enough to see a certain magician outside of the white suit performing. One thing led to another, which had Kaito attracted to the female persona, Irie Shiina, and after some ups and downs, Kaito realised Irie Shiina was actually Kudo Shinichi. With both of their parents nosying around the business, they ended up confessing (?) inside a water closet.

Now onto the sequel! Enjoy~

* * *

 **01: Dream come true?**

Shinichi's groggy brain slowly registered the lukewarm temperature of sunlight shining from his window. The warmth was comforting, complementary to the waft of coffee from nearby. However, rather than making grabby motion towards the source of smell, Shinichi choose to indulge himself by snuggling back into the depth of his covers.

There were soft giggles from beside him as a light weight bounced on the end of the bed, though Shinichi's mind still paid it no heed as it tries to find its way back into the dreamscape. Only, the stiffled giggles was soon accompanied by a quick _snap_ and immediately, Shinichi's mind finally began its struggle out of the land of sleep. Blinking at the dull light, he glanced around half expecting his mother's cheerful grin and the mischievous shine in her eyes, only to be brought the sight of two rather strange appearances.

On the end of the bed sat one grade school version of himself, though if Shinichi's mind was working at full speed, he would immediately notice that this grade school version had a pair of overly large glasses perched on the nose, reflecting the little sunlight with a small gleam. To the side of the bed stood a pair of long, slim, legs. Shinichi let his eyes trail upwards, past the equally slim waist and the small bust to the angelic porcelain face and midnight locks of hair framing a pair of bright sapphire eyes much akin to his own.

"I must be dreaming…" Shinichi muttered to himself, trying to dig himself back into the blankets. "Yes, it must be a dream. There's no way other than a dream for both of them and myself to appear all at the same time."

"Really Shinichi-niichan?" The voice sound rather disappointed. It was accompanied by a rather loud slurp of liquid. "Surely you can do better than that."

"Now, now Conan. You remember how we were when we're half awake." Admonished a feminine voice. "It's already a miracle that Shinichi hasn't freaked out yet. So him assuming we're part of a dream makes perfect sense."

"Of course Shiina-neechan!" The child voice was entirely too happy, too gleeful.

"Who gave him sugar…" Shinichi moaned, abandoning all thoughts of sleep and prepared himself to face with this possible _dream_. He struggled out of the warm blanket and sat up, leaning against the headboard. Off to the side, Shiina held out a cup of coffee, which Shinichi took gratefully. "This is a dream right?"

"No such luck Shinichi." Shiina shook her head, taking another sip. Conan giggled gleefully from the end, swinging his short legs as he enjoyed his morning cup. "What was the last thing you remember?"

Shinichi scrunched up his brows, thinking back to yesterday night.

"There was that dinner with Kaito…"

 _Shinichi sat opposite Kaito at a rather fancy restaurant downtown, one that a normal high-school student would not be able to afford though thanks to his own parent's meddling and Kaito's own mother, they secured a nice dinner at their expense. He suspects it was their way of them giving their blessings._

" _I wouldn't have thought they would arrange for us to eat here. I feel a little underdressed…" Kaito looked down at his shirt and vest combo. Shinichi would not say the magician was underdressed seeing as his ensembled had drawn many eyes during their short trek between the entrance and the table, including Shinichi's own who had been trying hard to to appear to be staring intently at the magician's figure._

" _It's their fault for not telling us beforehand." Shinichi looked down at his own clothes, not exactly casual seeing as he was in a button up shirt and had a jacket, but he was in his jeans and sneakers which was not something for a high-class venue such as the one they were in._

" _At least you have the excuse of being a celebrity so you can almost go anywhere dressed in any way you wish. Me? I'm just a normal high-school student with a penchant for pranking."_

" _I wouldn't say that…" Shinichi muttered, earning a quizzical gaze. Shinichi only shook his head, "you're more than a prankster aren't you? You're a magician."_

" _Oh." There was something strange in Kaito's voice and Shinichi knew what it was. The magician was probably expecting Shinichi to start accusing him of being KID (and no doubt Kaito had a speech well prepared about how he could_ not _be KID), but Shinichi knew better than to say such things in public._

" _You practically live and breath in magic." Shinichi added, to dispel other strange thoughts from forming. "Just now, you tried to charm our waitress with a rose, and on our way here you performed for the children in the park."_

" _Were you jealous?" Kaito asked, "were you expecting a flower of your own?" Immediately, a puff of smoke appeared with a bright red rose held between the thumb and forefingers. Kaito offered it to Shinichi, but he refused to take the stem. With a small pout, Kaito settled on tucking the rose behind Shinich's ear. "Know that only_ you _deserve this flower and no one else."_

 _Shinichi blushed, ducking his head down and hoping Kaito had not seen how red his face had become. But from the amused glint in the indigo eyes, Shinichi knew the magician noticed. Not wanting to be subjected to further teasing, Shinichi hastily changed the subject with a cough._

" _What…" Shinichi hesitated on how to phrase his question, it was something that had been lurking around in his mind ever since Kaito had professed his feelings all those months back in that tiled bathroom floor. "What...attracted you. To...me. I mean, you knew Shiina first and…"_

 _Shinichi left the question hang in the air, not once did he make eye contact as he stated the question._

" _You know what, it's stupid. You don't have to answer." Shinichi's own insecurities were eating at his mind. On the one hand, he really wanted to know, but on the other, Shinichi dreaded at being compared to the magician's version of himself, of Irie Shiina._

" _Well, it's true that I met Irie Shiina first," Kaito started. Shinichi can feel the intense gaze landing on him. However, Shinichi was adamant not to look up, he did not want to see the nostalgic gaze in Kaito's eyes, or the fondness as the magician recalls the short moments he had with Irie Shiina. "And I was first physically drawn towards her when I saw her at the party. I mean, she looked rather...stunning in that black dress, and the way her eyes shone as she swept her gaze around the hall, it was alluring…"_

 _Shinichi bit his lower lips, eyes focused on the white plate in front of him. He knew it was a bad idea to ask._

" _But that's the physical aspect and physical characteristics is not everything that makes up a person." Kaito reached over to lift Shinichi by his chin. Deep indigo stared straight into Shinichi. "I then noticed the heart, mind, and soul of the person that had been presented in front of me. That quick mind and the burning curiosity at wanting to know. The sparks of wisdom that was portrayed, and the kindness hidden in the heart. Those were what finally ensnared my heart. Not the physical part, but the mental part."_

Shinichi remembered the conversation clearly, how Kaito had tried to stress that he was attracted to Shinichi as a person and not the persona he had be portraying. Yet, he also remember feeling that although those words were supposed to be comforting, he kept comparing the various versions of himself. Shinichi knew KID, at one point, had been attracted to the mind of Edogawa Conan, whom he called as _his_ critic, _his_ Tantei-kun. The same sort of possessiveness what was shown when Kaito called Irie Shiina as _His Lady_. But Shinichi only remained purely 'Shinichi' and no one else. It was as though Kaito had deliberately cut himself away and avoid the attachment. It had made Shinichi felt out-of-sorts, that even though Shinichi felt intensely for the magician, the same could not be said for the magician.

"And? What else do you remember?" Shiina prompted, snapping Shinichi from his memories.

Shinichi tries to think back to the night. They only walked partway together seeing as there was school the next day. Though Kaito had insisted on accompanying Shinichi on the train station but Shinichi had adamantly refused. In the end, they parted way at the intersection that, on the one hand led to the train station, on the other led to the residential streets. Shinichi remembered the chaste kiss on the corner of his lips and a rather reluctant goodbye from the magician. Neither had wanted to turn away and it was Shinichi who took the first steps towards the station, all the while feeling Kaito's gaze on his back.

Unfortunately, as with all outings he had, this one was soon interrupted with the discovery of a body not long after. Shinichi was thankful that at least Kaito was no where in sight, he did not want the magician to bare witness to another crime, let alone a body. Calling up the authorities and solving the murder as quick as he can (which turned out to be a crime of passion where the boyfriend though his girlfriend was cheating on him with their best friend but in reality they were planning a secret party) he was driven to the local police station to finish off the paperwork. Even though the writing took some time, Shinichi managed to leave the station within an hour, with plenty of time to catch the last train.

"There was that walk between the police station and the train station. And, I think, there was a fortune teller?"

" _You there," a hand bid Shinichi from between two buildings. Shinichi had not noticed the small table that had been set up so close to the building's walls. The person behind the table waved at Shinichi once more, "you seemed troubled."_

 _Shinichi did not want to pay the person any mind. He had noticed the transparent globe set in the middle of the table and suspects this supposed fortune-teller to be a fraud, wanting to make some quick money off him._

" _Sorry, not interested." He declared with the intention of walking away._

" _Are you sure?" The voice, clearly feminine, begged to be heard and had spun its magic around Shinichi causing him to pause once more. "I can see how the red strings are tangling up around you, how they are strangling you at the same time. Don't you want to untie them?"_

" _Look, I need to leave and catch the train. Find your mark somewhere else." It was forceful and impolite but Shinichi knew he needed to declare the intention._

" _Three of a kind, all alike but not at all similar. Three facets of a gem." Her voice was just above a whisper yet it seemed to Shinichi that she might as well be shouting for his attention. "All facing a singular shadow with certain expectations. A white shadow in darkness that can only be in the presence of a single gem."_

 _Shinichi frowned. Could it be that this person knew of his association with a certain thief. Not wanting to risk things, and needing to find out the person's intention, he took a step towards the table. "What do you want?"_

" _For you to sit down." A hand gestured at the short stool. "Sit, and allow me to read you. You have such strange strings attached to you that it's intriguing…"_

 _Cautiously, Shinichi sat on the wooden stool. His eyes never left the shadowed face behind the red cowl._

" _Look in here with me." The pale hand waved over the crystal ball. Mist began to form from the base of the globe, slowly clouding the once-transparent space. "Let us delve deep and answer your doubts and queries. Let us shed light in darkness and give darkness to light."_

 _Nothing the person was saying makes sense, yet it compelled Shinichi to listen._

" _I see a short figure, intelligent and bright. Another tall figure, an alluring sight. Then there's you in the middle, stuck between the two. The chains that binds the three of you together is becoming entangled with a frail red string that has been pulled taut to one end. The string itself, leads up to the shining moon, casting shadows to all three figures. As the shadows wavered, it merged and becomes distorted. You, stuck in the middle, become lost between the mix of shadows and the bright moon dulls it shine…"_

" _What are you saying." The words echoed with Shinichi's previous insecurities, that Kaito, the Moonlight Magician, was only interested in a certain aspect of him and not Shinichi as a person._

" _That ultimately, it will be you who will bring on darkness." The head lifted and all Shinichi could see was a pair of bright red eyes._

" _Darkness…" The word brought about another fear. Although the Black Organisation is all but gone, there were still parts of Shinichi that believed there are still agents out there aiming for his blood. Darkness is often associated with Black and he hoped he had not made Kaito into a target because of their association._

" _However, I can offer you a simple solution." She waved a hand in front of Shinichi. "Untangle the knots, strengthen the string and turn it into the chain. Link yourself with the moon and cast white shadows instead."_

Shinichi's mind came up blank after that. He could not remember how he returned home let alone fall asleep back in his own bed.

"Well, let me clear up a few things then…" Shiina sat on the side of the bed. She stuck a finger and pointed at Shinichi. "You fell asleep by yourself sometime around midnight." She then gestured between herself and Conan. "I woke up first, spotted you and Conan and had a short-circuit before deciding I, and most likely we, need coffee before we try and figure anything out. Conan was the second to wake, taking his time. Then you."

"If you two only woke up, or dare I say existed, from when the sun came up, how did you know when I fell asleep?"

"Apparently," Conan's all too cheerful voice popped up. He crawled his way from the end of the bed to sit on Shinichi's lap, "we retain your, or our, memory. But we're more distinct in our personality."

"So that's why you're more childish than when _I_ was Conan." Shinichi muttered aloud. He had wondered why Conan acted more like an eight year-old.

"I _am_ supposed to be a child you know. Not like, a teenager stuck in a child's body. Though I'm guessing we'll still share the same sort of luck." By which he must mean their continual stumbling across crimes and body. "And I know I'll react more like you would when you were Conan. But with Shiina-neechan? I'm not too sure…"

"We'll probably have to wait to find out though I think it would be like how you, or we, acted during that one time in the bookstore. We can never be too sure seeing as you and I are more alike than you and Conan."

The talk was making Shinichi's head spin and he could feel a low grade headache forming.

"Go take a shower and clean up. It'll help clear your mind." Shiina stood, taking the now empty coffee cup from Shinichi's hands. "Conan, go grab a change of clothes for Shinichi before you come help in the kitchens."

"Yes Shiina-neechan!" He answered all too enthusiastically before turning to Shinichi and immediately tugging on the blanket. "Come on Shinichi-niichan! Hurry up!"

"Right. Clean up, breakfast, then school. And I'll also have to sort out the situation with you two…" Shinichi knew freaking out now is useless and the best course of action was try and minimize the damage then figure out how to reverse the situation. "Need to call Beika Elementary to sort out your schooling, and Teitan High to see whether I can have Irie Shiina transfer in…" He muttered as he entered the tiled room. His mind was already trying to work out the logistics to this illogical and slightly out-of-this-world situation he had been dumped with.

 **-TBC-**


	2. Emergency Uniform

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: NO WORRIES I'M STILL ALIVE~ Actually, life just sudden reared it ugly head and now I'm drowning in work to be able to write (let alone post) any chapters. I'll try to update when I can so this is still a live fic.

* * *

 **02: Emergency Uniform**

After two consecutive phone calls to the respective schools, and internally thanking the deities that both principals were such morning creatures to actually be in school so early, Shinichi managed to have the transfers done before school started for the day. It helped that his family had gifted generously to all their charity events and fundraising, though he was equally sure it was because of their family's celebrity status that had both school turning a blind eye to such strange and hasty requests.

However, the next problem comes in the form of wardrobe. Specifically for Shiina. Thumbing his mobile, Shinichi looked at the clock on his bedside table and wondered briefly if Ran was awake. He knew she normally wake up with the sun to prepare breakfast before heading out to morning practice at the karate club but they were at their final year and had no club activities to speak of so it was equally likely for her to sleep in slightly. Biting on the inside of his cheeks, he scrolled through his contacts and pressed call on Ran's number.

He waited patiently with a finger hovering over the disconnect button the moment the call is transferred to voicemail. Luck seems to be giving him the time of day as a sleepy voice greeted with a slurred " _hello?_ "

"Um, morning Ran." He replied hesitantly. "I have a favour to ask."

" _Shinichi? Is something wrong?_ " She sounded alarmed and Shinichi winced at causing unnecessary worry.

"No. At least not really I think. But I do need your help somewhat." He tries to placate his friend but the silence only signalled to Shinichi that Ran was on high alert and most likely coming up with worst case scenarios. "Don't freak out yet, and don't think I'm strange or anything but do you think you can lend me your spare uniform?"

" _Ha?_ " He had the feeling that Ran was thinking him insane.

"Look, it's… I'm not sure how to say it. I'll explain once you come over. I know you won't have much time and all..." He started rambling but was cut off by Ran.

" _I'm sure you have a good explanation._ " There was rustling from the other end. Likely Ran getting up to start her morning ritual. " _Dad's not back from his stakeout so I won't have to cook breakfast. I'll be over in half an hour and I expect breakfast as compensation for the request. That and lunch, but I'll spare you dinner._ "

"Thanks Ran. You're a lifesaver!" Grateful that Ran decided not to grill him for information just yet, Shinichi disconnected the call and made his way to the kitchens. The waft of cooking drifted through the house as the clatter of cutlery echoed.

"You're making a mess." Shiina's voice was quite distinct over the clatter. "And it's impolite to start eating when not everyone is here."

"I didn't eat! I only poured honey over the pancakes." Conan whined in a voice equivalent to his age. "I have better manners than to start eating. I'm not Genta."

The sounds were all too domestic, quite reminiscent of the times when his parents were still living here, of the times when he was actually an eight year-old. It brought a smile to his face even if there was a persistent headache at his temples.

"Finally! Shinichi-niichan! I thought you had drowned in the tub or something." Conan, with a face entirely too bright and all together too hyperactive, beamed from his seat at the tables. Shiina was studious by the stove, staring at the pan as though it held the mysteries of the Earth. The small crackle and sizzle signalled there was bacon in the pan, a fire hazard in itself if left unattended for extended period of time.

"I was making the required preparations for the two of you to go to school." He winced, sounding too old to his own ears. "I don't think it's appropriate for the pair of you, no matter how you came to being, should stay here by yourselves."

"Aw, can't I just skip or something? It's not as though I'm learning anything…" Conan whined, and in that instance Shinichi cannot help but notice how child-like Conan was.

"I know you miss the kids." Shinichi went to ruffle the too-tidy hair much like his father had on lazy mornings. It was a strange feeling, having to play the responsible father in this situation. "You won't be bored."

"Then? I'm going to Teitan then I assume?" Shiina plated up the food and set it before a seat. "Though I don't have the uniform."

"Fixed that. I called Ran and she's coming over. Something about preparing breakfast for her as well." He took a sip of the orange juice.

"Did you explain to her the situation? Or were you stuck at the awkward phase and decided to surprise her. You know Ran isn't one to react nicely to such a surprise." She gestured between herself and Conan. "Plus she knew about the Conan incident, and about you crossdressing so seeing me here...well...I think it might blow a casket."

"It'll be fine. Ran's a tough girl." But even as the words left his mouth, some parts of him feared Ran's first reaction was punch him in the face. He could never predict Ran's reaction with any sort of accuracy.

Just as he took on several bites of the pancakes, and Conan was happily still sucking on the fork for the last remnant of honey, the front doorbell rang. Pushing out of the chair, he steeled himself to face Ran.

"Good Morning." He greeted. Ran immediately shoved a small paper bag into his arms before pushing her way through the entry. Shinichi nodded, noting the slightly pissed off vibe that was coming from Ran. He decided to put a bit of distance between them and opted to close the door before following.

Shinichi was alarmed when he heard a loud _thud_ and quickly rushed towards the kitchen where he found Ran to have crumpled onto the floor, staring at the pair that was sitting by the table and clearly enjoying breakfast.

"Morning Ran-neechan!" Conan chirped with a small mess at the corner of his mouth. Shiina diligently grabbed a napkin and began to furiously wipe away the sticky substance before it dripped onto his clothes.

"But...You...and...him...and…" Shinichi figured they must have broken Ran's brain somehow as she stared at the two and pointed between Conan and himself. "You…"

"Yes, I used to be Conan." Shinichi nodded, giving Ran a hand to stand up. He gently guided her to a nearby seat.

"But...he...and you...here?" Ran's incredibly wide eyes flickered as harsh breath was drawn in rapid succession.

"Breath Ran. In. Out." Shinichi guided the now most likely hyperventilating Ran. "Yes, what you're seeing is not a dream or a figment of your imagination. Conan is here, in person. Physically touchable."

"But how? And she's, isn't she _you_?" Ran looked up at Shiina who was setting down a cup of cool water before heading to the stove and start on another plate of food.

"She was at one point." He nodded, "it's a bit hard to explain and even I don't know how it happened. Suffice to say that I fell asleep as myself last night and this morning, the pair of them appeared with a cup of coffee for me. Likely to buy me off or prevent me from going insane."

"But _how_?" Her grip on the cup was so tight that Shinichi fear she might injure herself. Carefully, she extracted the now empty cup and placed in on the table, some ways away from Ran to prevent her from reaching out. As added precaution, he took hold of her hands. On the one hand, it stopped her from doing anything physical, on the other it allowed Shinichi to monitor her heart rate just in case it skyrocketed. Though that came with the danger of Ran squeezing his hand too tight that he might lose blood flow to his fingers, or worst break his bones entirely because of the all-too-tight grip Ran is having on him at the moment.

"I believe," Shiina spoke with a plate in hand, "it had something to do with a fortune teller on our return trip from the date."

"With Kuroba-kun? In Ekoda?" Ran looked between the three before staring straight into Shinichi's eyes. "But how does she know?"

"We share the same memories up until that moment in time. Not quite sure what would happen afterwards though. Likely Shinichi-niichan will received all the memories in bulk when we leave." There was a rather evil grin on Conan's face. "You'll be having quite a headache afterwards I think." The subsequent sniggering was somehow contagious as Shiina was also trying to hide her giggles behind her fists.

"Yes, thanks for the heads up." Shinichi rubbed at his temple, the low grade headache is escalating and he briefly wondered where he kept the pain killers. In an instant, Shiina tapped him on the shoulders and handed over a cup of steaming coffee. Caffeine was better than nothing, though it would not make the headache less. There were very few things that could cure his headache, Shiina and Conan not physically existing it one of them. The other cure is unfortunately a train ride away and most likely still sleeping at the moment.

"I think," she replied to Ran's questioning gaze, "that it's like cloud computing. We share the memories, work on our own thing, and in the end upload it back into a single location which happens to be Shinichi."

"How come I'm not feeling any better with that explanation…" As much as people like to think Shinichi was like a crime-solving machine, he was essentially still human.

"Then do the two of you," at this, Ran directed her questions towards Shiina and Conan, "feel the same towards Kuroba-kun? I can't imagine how that would work."

"Hm…" Both looked extremely contemplative and Shinichi could not help but feel nervous. Twin pairs of sapphire quickly zoomed in onto Shinichi and he hesitantly took a step back.

"Nope. Nothing." Shiina declared after careful contemplation and shook her head.

"It's more like 'Kaito-niisan', familial more than anything else." Conan mirrored the action though with more of a shrug. "He's family, or at least he would be if Shinichi-niichan would get his act together and ask him to move in."

Shinichi reactively thwaped Conan on the back of his head and was immediately appalled by his own reaction.

"I'm sorry." He apologised immediately, looking over the back of the head for possible injuries. He could not believe how easily he succumbed to physical punishments. But at least he understood somewhat why Kogoro would suddenly manhandle him as Conan. The boy was rather upfront about a lot of things and they were things that are not normally well received by adults.

"No worries. Used to it already." He rubbed the back of his head. "It's not the first time."

"It should have never happened."

"Ahem." Ran coughed, trying to regain the small bit of attention back. "So? Neither Conan nor Shiina feels anything for Kuroba-kun even though they share the same memories? I find that particularly hard to believe."

"Well, when I was conceived," Shinichi winced at Conan's choice of words, "it was due to an emergency that I was given any sort of character or personality. I don't think it's strange for me to feel nothing towards Kaito-niisan seeing as _Conan_ had a specific goal in mind and had very little to spare for such things."

Ran glared at Shinichi as though blaming for Conan's stunted emotional development. Shinichi tries to avoid all forms of eye contact and took a seat by the table to begin delving into his food once more.

 **-TBC-**


	3. It's not all Science

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: I just want to sleep for a long, long time. Too many 4hr nights...humans were not meant to survive with only 4hrs of sleep.

* * *

 **03: It's not all Science**

Shinichi was all set to take another bite of food when the door opened without ringing. For a moment he tensed when there was very little noise coming from footsteps, fearing that it might be some unknown assailant or vengeful partners seeking his blood. Then, the noise grew louder, more rapid, and he remembered only one other had access to the house.

"Kudo-kun, I swear you better be having an actual meal rather than coffee and whatever you find lying around the kitchen counters…" Haibara's voice dropped off suddenly when she was confronted with the scene of four individuals sitting around a dining table, two of which should not have existed physically at the same time. Three if Shinichi had to be technical and include himself.

"Ai-chan, good morning." Ran greeted genially now that her own shock had worn off. She had been chatting happily with Shiina, learning that the girl, and subsequently Shinichi, were somehow quite knowledgeable in fashion and makeup.

Haibara blinked once, twice, and three times before taking a rather deep breath and counting to ten. She walked out of sight from the kitchen, waited for several seconds, before coming back round the corner.

"You're not hallucinating Haibara. You are really seeing all of _us_." Shinichi unhelpfully added when the girl (woman?) stood too still.

"How and why Kudo-kun. Don't tell me you were poisoned again and led to a lab and experimented upon whereby they managed to clone various versions of you." She looked over at Conan, who gave a jolly wave, and Shiina who nodded in greeting. " _They_ should not be here."

Reluctantly, Shinichi explained the story a second time. Haibara seemed all too calm as she observed the three of them.

"I need samples, from all three of you." She declared. "Just in case."

Shinichi knew she would not be so easily swayed by a simple "it's magic" (something that Conan offered halfway through the explanation. It was the most logical explanation that even Shinichi could not help but agree). So this was her way of ensuring what Shinichi was saying was actually the truth. Though Shinichi also had a small flame of hope for the young scientist, hoping that she could find a more grounded explanation. Saying everything was because of magic just seems to grate on Shinichi's nerves.

"You can't really blame me for being too cautious. There's a chance that this... _split_...is more like ripping pieces of time out of your person, thereby managing to create previous copies of yourself. If that's the case, it's highly likely that _Conan_ could still have traces of the APTX inside his system and that _Shiina_ might still be suffering the side effects of the antidote."

Shinichi shuddered at the two revelation. While having the APTX was by no means good, it only lowered his immune system and made him more susceptible to viruses and infections. With the antidote, it had literally caused him to be bed bound for a week where he felt as though his whole body was aflamed and that every movement he made were like a thousand needles stabbing into his body.

"I don't really feel any different." Shiina, most likely not wanting to be subjected to being a lab rat, stated. But a single glare from Haibara managed to cower her into submission. "Alright. After school? It's a school day today..."

"As soon as possible actually." She glanced over at the wall clock. "There's still time. If you stay right here, I'll go grab the equipment and take the samples. I can easily take the day out of school and run the tests."

"You skip school entirely too often to have enough attendance rate for you to graduate primary school…" Shinichi muttered.

"I have good enough grades to allow my entrance at major universities. Not having graduated from primary school would not be so bad as long as I pass the entrance test to later schooling institutes."

Previously, Haibara would have watched her words around Ran. But after Shinichi told the scientist he had accidentally let slip of the Conan Incident during his hospitalisation, her lips became looser. Though it was not all bad seeing as she managed to actually become friends with Ran rather than holding her at a hand's length.

"Ai-chan, you're supposed to be keeping a low profile and that means going to school as a child." Ran reminded, cutting into her pancakes, "and I'm sure Ayumi-chan would miss you not being there."

Sometimes, Shinichi had to wonder how close they were. Looking at the fondness from Ran's eyes, he concluded that her feelings might be a bit more than normal friends. Though it was still unfounded and there had been no evidence of a possible further development between the pair. 'It could be because Haibara sees Ran as a sister, part of family, and elicited such emotions from the pair.'

"So, are all your minds linked right now or are you an individual?" The conversation turned back towards the three should-be-identical persons.

"No telepathy yet." Shinichi replied as Conan looked quite constipated and Shiina frowned at the rather unscientific term.

"You say _yet_ , which means you're expecting?" The teasing glint in Haibara's eyes made Shinichi shudder.

"No. I don't really think we would, or even should, be talking with our minds. People will think us insane." Shinichi winced at the use of the pronoun. It was strange to refer to himself as multiple, or even in third person. He had already stuttered over the names, as though he instinctively knew they were supposed to be himself.

"As if you're not insane already…" Ran muttered underneath her breath, Shinichi could not help but glance over for explanation. "There are speculations on how _sane_ you really are. You've been party to too many bodies and crimes to be psychologically sound and I remember hearing from Megure-keibu about wanting to have you see a psychologist…"

"No." Shinichi was more alarmed now.

"Well, it is natural. I mean the officers undergo periodic psychological assessment. If you're a consultant, you'd need to go through the same mental health check..." Haibara oh-so-helpfully added with a rather cheerful smile. Shinichi was not sure whether it was because she anticipated actual, qualified, doctors stating his possible (in)sanity or because she finds it amusing to have a professional dig through his brain much like how he digs through others. "A taste of your own medicine Meitantei." Yep, Haibara was looking forward to the latter then.

"Though," Ran added, "Shinichi might actually talk in circles just to confuse the psychologist, or reverse the situation where the psychologist will turn crazy because of overexposure to a detective geek."

"Ah yes, there is that risk."

"Can we not talk as though I don't exist?" Irritated, Shinichi forcefully joined into the conversation. The two giggled, even his own counterparts giggled as though it had nothing to do with them. "Just so you know," he addressed his counterparts specifically, "if I'm crazy, so are the two of you."

"I never thought myself as _normal_ or _sane_ in any sense. After all, _I'm_ the forcefully turned child." Conan chirped. Shinichi had to wonder why the boy chirped in that overly sugary tone the whole time.

"And _I_ technically am just a figment of imagination." Shiina proudly announced. " _I_ am more like a character in well written novel. Too much detail but not enough personality."

"Arg, why am I surrounded by abnormal people." Shinichi muttered softly, turning away from the table and picking up his dirty plate. "I'll just go change first. You guys...chat or something."

"Oh, and don't forget to call Kuroba-kun." Shiina helpfully reminded. "He texted this morning."

"Is this the lovey-dovey phase I see?" Haibara teased, earning a rather pinkish tinge on his face and a round of laughter.

Not wanting to stay inside the kitchen and become the object of further embarrassment, Shinichi made a quick escape.

Upon reaching his bedroom, he unhooked the phone from its charger and went to browse through the message history. At the very top was a read message from Kaito. Shinichi was not sure how to feel, on the one hand Shiina was himself so her reading of a _private_ message addressed to Shinichi was actually quite logical. On the other hand, Shiina was now her own person so in theory it is an invasion of privacy. His head spun when trying to consider was would be appropriate amount of privacy for them when they were all the same person at one point.

" _I'll come pick you up after school._ " There was an attaching kaomoji, winking playfully back at him and Shinichi could not help but feel the blush creeping up. Shaking his head, he tries to calm himself down to pen the reply message.

" _Busy this afternoon. Maybe some other time._ " Looking at the text, even Shinichi feels it sounded suspicious. Normally, he would give some reasoning or another reschedule date. His finger hovered over the send button, internally debating whether to lie to Kaito about having something important to do.

"Why are you half-dressed?" Shiina leaned on the window jamb, arms crossed and amusement in her eyes. "Just tell Kuroba-kun the truth."

"With the possibility of him thinking I was messing with him? I don't think so." His eyes looked at the paper bag being set down on the bed. Shiina slowly pulled out the various articles for Teitan High uniform. "I don't think the shirt would fit." His eyes landed on the rather flat chest of Shiina.

"Yes, Ran is rather well endowed. Maybe I'll just nick one off you." She quickly discarded the pastel blouse she had been wearing and went to rummage around the pile of clothes. "We should probably stop by the clothes shop and actually buy me a uniform."

Shinichi turned his head away when Shiina stripped down to her undergarments. They may be essentially the same person but Shiina was still a female and Shinichi was still a gentleman at heart. Most likely an effect from being exposed to too much of a certain phantom thief. 'Speaking of which, KID hasn't made an appearance in a very long time.'

"There's no need to turn away, you've seen this body before." She giggled.

"Not like _that_." Shinichi blindly pointed, eyes focused on the patterns of the floor. He may not be that attracted to the female body, but even had to admit Shiina is well proportioned even if she was somewhat lacking in certain areas. Unfortunately, Shiina chose the exact moment to step closer and Shinichi found his eyes landing on the hip area. He noticed the exact same gunshot wound that Conan would undoubtedly have, a jarring white blemish against the skin.

"Looks like we really are exact replicas, with the exception of gender and age difference of course." Shiina fingered the old wound. "Anyways, shirt?"

"Yes, here." Shinichi handed over the one he was about to wear, "I'll grab another. You...dress first."

He left the phone, with the unsent message of black text against a bright white screen, on the bed and headed for walk-in wardrobe.

 **-TBC-**


	4. Raising Awareness

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: I am not dead. This fic is not dead. Only I really didn't have time to even upload it.

* * *

 **04: Raising Awareness**

Kaito frowned at the reply he received from Shinichi. A highly unusual message that had him tapping the phone unconsciously against the hardwood table inside the kitchen.

" _Something came up?_ " He nudged at the detective, placing his phone screen side up as his hands busied with breakfast.

It was not until he finished eating when the reply came, another thing that was out of character.

" _Just busy._ "

Two words was enough to ring alarm bells. Could it be Shinichi saw something he should not have and had to go into hiding hence the evasive replies? Or maybe someone was threatening or blackmailing Shinichi? Even worst, could Shinichi be held hostage and whoever was replying this was someone else entirely? Kaito knew he should have walked Shinichi home last night and not listened to the logic his detective had presented. Biting onto his lips, Kaito internally debated whether to skip school today and track his detective down. But before he could come to any decision, his doorbell rang along with a shout.

"KAITO! WAKE UP!" Aoko's loud voice was most likely waking up the whole neighbourhood.

"I am awake." He sedately opened the front door, gesturing his childhood friend into the threshold as he walked back up to his room to grab his school things.

"Huh. You're early."

"Well, I do that every so often." Kaito woke up early because of a particularly vivid dream involving his detective and chocolate and the pool. It had taken a very long and very cold shower to cool him down.

"Have you had breakfast then?"

"Of course, why else would I have been in the kitchens?" Kaito replied cheekily with a grin. The stunned look on Aoko's face was always interesting for Kaito, though recently the flushed face of Shinichi had taken a higher ranking than the current sight.

"You...cook…?" She sounded disbelieving, it was as though the thought of cooking and Kaito should not belong together. Kaito did not take this as an insult.

"Come on, it isn't really surprising you know." He learned how to cook basic meals and breakfast, consisting of toast and eggs. "I _do_ know how to bake so it's only logical that I know how to cook."

"But you never cook, you said the last time you tried to make yakisoba, you burnt the whole thing, set the pan on fire, and ruined the kitchen ceiling with soot." Aoko waited by the gates for Kaito to lock up.

"Technically, the yakisoba exploded." Kaito was not sure how it happened, it just did and Kaito had left the mystery alone. Maybe he could have his detective solve it sometime.

"Right, exploded. As if that's any more normal." She sighed in exasperation.

Their journey to school was quickly filled up with quips and jabs on either side, allowing Kaito to forget the uneasy feeling he had been having the whole morning. Up until lunch when Koizumi Akako approached Kaito's desk with a swagger in her steps.

"I see you're still quite happy." She commented with a tilt of her head. "Though I suppose anyone would be in your position. So much _joy_ to be had."

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Kaito turned away from his semi-argument with Aoko. "What _position_ am I supposed to be in?"

"Why, have you not made contact yet? I thought your love was stronger than that." She acted surprised but there was a calculating gleam in her eyes. "Anyways, holidays are coming up," the change in topic was abrupt, which had Kaito scratching his head, "have you planned anything special?"

"None beside spending quality time away from you." He nearly hissed out but was mindful they had company and settled for a bland tone.

"I see, so you'll be spending time with your loved _ones_." The conspiratorial glint returned, this time with more force. "Oh, and a word of warning, do make your decisions wisely or you won't like the consequences. I hear a broken heart often leads to broken minds. _You_ wouldn't want that to happen now would you?"

The bell promptly rang, as though timing it perfectly so the witch could have the final words. She sauntered elegantly back to her seats, with her trailing troupe of male followers, whilst Kaito only slumped into his seat and settled for pulling his phone out discreetly. He typed in a few words just to alleviate the boredom as the teacher recapped on their previous lesson.

" _What did you have for lunch? Did you even have lunch today?_ " Kaito knew how Shinichi would often forget to prepare his lunch or even buy lunch from the cafeteria in favour for a few more minutes sleep and playing soccer for a bit longer on the field. It was a habit Kaito found by chance during a conversation about the types of sports they play. While Kaito could not condone the habit, he himself having the same tendency to skip a meal in favour of perfecting a trick, Kaito made sure to remind Shinichi to eat whenever he could. It helped that Teitan lunch hour is half an hour later than Ekoda High.

The reply came almost immediately, as though anticipating Kaito's message.

" _Sandwich from the store. Forgot to pack lunch this morning._ "

Seeing the message made Kaito suddenly want to giggle for no reason. He could just picture how Shinichi would stumble down the stairs, take a quick look at the nearest clock before realising he was running late. Then proceeded to run through his morning routine and dash out the door with half a piece of bread sticking out of his mouth and a partially done shoelace.

"Kuroba-kun," the teacher called out loud, likely having spotted Kaito daydreaming with a swooning face.

"Yes ma'am?" He stood up, taking a quick glance at the blackboard to figure out the type of answers he needed to give.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the teacher gulped and asked Kaito to step up and finish off the question on the board. Not many teachers dared to do that as they fear what up-close-and-personal exposure to one Kuroba Kaito could do to their wardrobe and ultimately their professional standing (though the latter would only occure after prologed exposure as demonstrated by the homeroom teacher last year who had to take Kaito's class for a full academic year. It resulted in the woman having mental breakdowns daily and finally quit being a teacher. Kaito is still sending her daily get-well cards and weekly apologies for causing such a mess. Last he heard she had become better and was looking for a generic desk job. Kaito made a mental note to order a bouquet of flowers to be sent anonymously to her new workplace as congratulations on recovery, even if he was the initial cause of said illness).

His quick work of the problem on the board brought relief to the teacher, to which Kaito could not help but leave a last grin (teeth included) at the teacher that caused a bout of shivering throughout the rest of the student populace. Kaito secretly thinks the class was praying for the safety of their teacher at the point.

When school finally ended, Kaito wasted no time to pack up his things. Aoko was fast approaching him by the desk but before she was even within talking distance, Kaito had everything in his bag and was ready to leave.

"Ah, Aoko. Sorry, in a bit of a hurry this afternoon. You go on home yourself ok? Or...heaven forbid me saying, have Hakuba walk with you." He gave a jaunty wave amidst Aoko's spluttering as he walked out the door. Pulling out his mobile he typed a quick message to Shinichi to inform him he might be dropping by. Although his detective had turned down their date, it did not mean Kaito could not escort his detective to whatever the location he needed to be. That and because of the constant nagging feeling he had at his heart that something was very wrong with the current situation.

Seeing as Ekoda High ended half an hour earlier than Teitan, it gave Kaito enough time to hop on the train. On the way, he remembered to stop by a coffee place and picked up a takeaway cup of coffee for his detective (no sugar, cream, with a dash of honey) and a steamy hot mocha (with extra chocolate, hazelnut syrup and cream) for himself. He stood outside, leaning on the concrete pillar sipping on his drink, waiting patiently and gaining quite a bit of attention himself.

When his detective looked beyond surprise when he spotted Kaito. The widening of his eyes making his sapphire blues gave him a more innocent look than it was ever possible.

"Ka-Kaito!" He stuttered out the moment he saw Kaito, "wha-what are you doing here? Don't you have school?"

"I texted you half an hour ago, told you I'd be stopping by." Kaito offered the cup, which Shinichi accepted with a small blush, a soft thanks and a dip of his head. "I thought I'd walk you at least partway to where you needed to be."

"There's...there's really no need to trouble yourself. It's...you have a long journey. Um…" Shinichi looked overly nervous as he glanced about. "I...think I have a bit of time for now. Um...why don't we walk a bit, maybe have a bite or something? Then...I'll walk you to the train station so you can go back to Ekoda at a reasonable time?"

"Oh Shinichi!" Kaito pounced on his detective, "so considerate of you!" Then subsequently gave a rather playful and overly dramatic smooch on the cheeks. The small tint of blush from earlier grew in its intensity.

"Ba-baka!" Shinichi pushed at Kaito, who immediately backed away. "I just don't want you to come all the way over for no reason…" He muttered softly, burying his words into the rim of the cup.

"It's never 'no reason' when you're here." Kaito admitted truthfully with a hint of shyness. Despite his dramatic displays of affection, Kaito still did not know how to act properly around Shinichi. He knew he could not treat Shinichi like a partner in the normal sense. For one, Shinichi was male and _normal partners_ are generally of the opposite gender. Second, Kaito knew Shinichi is strong both in the mind and physically. After all, his detective had to be or else how could he stomach all the grisly crime and chase after criminals. Third, and possibly most important of all, Kaito valued Shinichi both as a partner and a person. Shinichi was loyal and forgiving, empathetic and loving, kind and caring, Kaito could go on forever to list Shinichi's qualities but all in all, Shinichi held a special place in Kaito's heart.

"-aito?" Shinichi waved a hand in front of him. "Are you alright? You looked a bit out of it for a while? Maybe you should head back early…"

"No, no. I'm fine. And I can't waste this opportunity to spend more time with you." Kaito walked closer, "now, where should we go?"

They left the school's proximity and headed at a random direction, or as random as Shinichi could insist. It seems his detective had somewhere in mind, somewhere far away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping area if Kaito's observations were correct. His detective was leading them to another part of the town, more secluded and quiet. Though Kaito did not complain but rather basked in the comfortable silent companionship as they viewed their surroundings.

 **-TBC-**


	5. You Lucky Dog

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: Something akin to a 'regular' update...finally.

* * *

 **05: You Lucky Dog**

"Class." The teacher of class 3B in Teitan called out for attention. A majority of the students were already in their seats. On seat in particular held a certain nervous, fidgety detective who kept glancing between the teacher and the doorway. Ran, who noticed this, kicked at Shinichi's table leg to have him stop this nervous action.

"Everything's going to be fine. No one would notice." She leaned over to whisper.

Shinichi nodded in slow movement, not quite believing but still chose to follow Ran's advice. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"Today we have a new student." She motioned towards the door, which promptly slid open. An elegant leg appeared, which drew the attention of many of the males in the room. The long leg was followed by thin waist and hip, silky black tresses, and a pair of startling blue eyes that had many people look back towards Shinichi.

Shinichi thought he was doomed, that everyone would find out. But strangely, all it provoked was Nakamura leaning forwards and tapping Shinichi on his shoulder.

"Is she your sister? Have you been hiding her in that big mansion?" Nakamura gave a playful punch on Shinichi's shoulder. "Having Mouri-chan doing your bidding is not enough, you even have your very own, lovely sister? Why didn't you introduce us before?"

His words were followed by many envious gazes in his direction.

"Class, this is Irie Shiina. She would be joining our class for the time she would be staying in Beika." The teacher tried to quiet the class down though without much success. Instead, she directed the girl to a seat next to Shinichi.

"Stop sulking." Shiina flicked Shinichi on the head. "Everything's going to be fine."

"You sound like Ran all of a sudden." Shinichi glanced up, rubbing the spot she flicked at.

"Good. She's a good influence." Nodding, she took the seat and quickly settled down. Throughout the exchange, the pair gained more envious gaze from both male and female. Ran, on the other hand, only sighed and shook her head.

Class, thankfully, passed by with relative normalcy for Shinichi most of the time. Though he was steadily becoming more annoyed by the backwards glance from the rest of his classmates. He was not sure whether Shiina was doing things on purpose but over the course of the class, she began to inch closer towards Shinichi, bringing both chair and table to the point where they were sitting side by side instead of having the aisle between them. Shinichi cast a weary look at her, to which was replied with a playful smile.

With a raise of his brows, Shiina seemed to understand his question and replied, "I don't have a textbook."

He nodded, laying the book between them so she could take a look. Even if Shiina's stay was not permanent, at least Shinichi hoped it was not, they had to pretend that Shiina exists as a person for now. Though he doubted the girl needed the book anyways, seeing as he did not need to use it all that often and it is logical to assume they share the same level of knowledge.

"Stop frowning. You were never one to pull on the grumpy face this often. And class is not rocket science, well technically it will be after lunch seeing as we have physics, but not now." Shiina nudged at Shinichi's elbow that had been resting conveniently between them.

"Not frowning." Removing his hand from the table, he turned to doodling on the near empty notebook. He can confidently say that he had not been paying any attention to the class, not that he needed to seeing as it was history and all it required of Shinichi to pass the exam would be copious amount of memorisation. That he could do easily.

"As though I believe you." She whispered softly, turning to her own notebook which already had a page full of drawings, mostly of roses and flowers though there was a gem here and there. There was no confusion as to what she had been thinking about.

"Please don't tell me you were lying during breakfast, that...you…" Shinichi's eyes widened, fearful that Shiina, his split counterpart, actually does have feelings for a certain indigo eyed magician.

"Nah, just wanted to mess with you for a bit. I have copied more of your, or should I say our, mother's humour." The glint in the eyes, even though they were far too playful, actually soothed Shinichi somewhat. She giggled softly before turning over a new page to start on another set of drawings. Her pencil glided over the page and Shinichi could make out two person sitting rather closely.

Unfortunately, the bell rang before she could add any more details to the outline and Shinichi was left to wonder what the subject matter of the drawing would be.

"Kudo!" Several of the football team members, who happened to be in the same class, immediately gathered around them. "Come on, introduce us!"

Shinichi looked between the males and Shiina, who gave an encouraging smile. Sighing, Shinichi went about to introduce Shiina to the rather enthusiastic group of males, many of whom swooned and tried so very very hard to win her affections from Shinichi's observation.

"How long have you known her for? And why did you keep this hidden you sly dog!" One of them pulled Shinichi into a rather strangling hug. "This is not something you hide from friends you know! Especially since you have Mouri already."

"I assure you, Shinichi was not trying to hide me." Shiina smiled, which managed to melt everyone nearby. Shinichi could not help but shiver at the effect, how people just seemed to melt at the softening gaze. He wondered if he too have the same effect on people seeing as they were supposed to be the same person, but soon realised he might not have the same allure as Shiina.

The buzz in his pant pockets gave him the excuse to leave the room, Shiina looked to him in equal parts of confusion and understanding before drawing the attention back to herself.

" _What did you have for lunch? Did you even have lunch today?_ " The message from Kaito reminded Shinichi to go grab something from the cafeteria for himself and Shiina. Shinichi did not notice Ran inside the classroom but he remembered her friend had an emergency Karate Club meeting, so he might as well find something for her if he could. On the way, he typed a quick reply, " _Sandwich from the store. Forgot to pack lunch this morning._ "

The cafeteria was packed full of students, many grabbing takeaway to be eaten outside so they could enjoy the sunshine. A large majority chose to sit indoors at the various tables inside the small space.

"Shinichi!" Ran called out from the seating near the cashier, Shinichi turned around in his position, mindful of the armful of food and drink. He quickly paid for the food and walked over. "Well, I can't say that it's a healthy selection, but at least you're eating something." She commented as she walked over from her place at the tables.

"You've finished eating?" He glanced back at the table to see several girls waving happily at him.

"Yea." Ran waved back and the girls turned back to their conversation. "You want some help with that?" She eyed the food, seeing how Shinichi struggled to stop them from falling towards the ground as he tries to reach for his wallet.

"Thanks." He offloaded half onto Ran and managed to find take his wallet out.

"At least you don't have to wonder what Shiina likes, you're practically the same person." She turned over the food load on her hand before brandishing the cans of coffee. "Though try to pull back on the caffeine? It's not good for you and we won't want you to become addicted."

"Too late for that Ran." He shook his head, taking the can out of her hands and placing them onto the counter ready to be checked out.

"I swear Conan drank less than you normally do. And here I was hoping that it stuck to you…"

"Conan drank coffee when your eyes were turned." He muttered softly, only to be heard and rewarded with a hit to the back of his head. "Hey!"

"You deserve that." After Shinichi's payment, Ran confiscated the two cans of drinks and walked determinedly out the cafeteria doors.

"Hey! Give it back." Shinichi chased after her, steps hurried, whilst still maintaining the various sandwiches in his hold.

Ran turned back with a rather playful smile. "Like I said, you deserve that."

After class, Shiina was called to the staff room to finalise the rest of the admissions procedure. Shinichi decided to head out first, wanting a bit of fresh air and to be away from the envious glares from the male student populace. Ran and Sonoko stayed, the latter wanted to make sure Shiina would not become lost inside the school. Though Shinichi was not sure how one could become lost in such a small school.

The moment he stepped out of the school gates, Shinichi was surprised to see Kaito leaning on the concrete surface, gazing up at the all-too-blue sky.

"Ka-Kaito! Wha-what are you doing here? Don't you have school?" He stuttered, taking quick glances back to the school building's entrance to ensure Shiina was nowhere to be seen. It would be rather confusing and bit of an embarrassment to explain the situation. Even though Kaito knew about his cross-dressing.

"I texted you half an hour ago, told you I'd be stopping by." Kaito offered the cup, which Shinichi accepted with a small blush, a soft thanks and a dip of his head. "I thought I'd walk you at least partway to where you needed to be."

"There's...there's really no need to trouble yourself. It's...you have a long journey. Um…" Shinichi stuttered over his words, nervously glanced back towards the school building once more, hoping that Shiina was still preoccupied. Knowing he had to steer Kaito away, lest all this mess was aired out into the open, he rummaged through his mind to figure out a reason for drawing the magician away. "I...think I have a bit of time for now. Um...why don't we walk a bit, maybe have a bite or something? Then...I'll walk you to the train station so you can go back to Ekoda at a reasonable time?" Shinichi need to remember to text Ran to meet up at the shopping street. They will have to buy Shiina's uniform and only Shinichi has enough cash for the job.

"Oh Shinichi!" Kaito pounced on his detective, "so considerate of you!" Then subsequently gave a rather playful and overly dramatic smooch on the cheeks. Shinichi blushed at the public display, not used to the sudden gesture of affection from someone outside of his blood relation (his mother often pounces on him and kisses him on the cheeks whenever they meet but outside of family, not too often in Japan. In the States, it might have been a regular occurrence but not in Japan even with the influx of foreigners).

"Ba-baka!" Shinichi pushed at Kaito, who immediately backed away. "I just don't want you to come all the way over for no reason…" He muttered softly, burying his words into the rim of the cup. He could smell the aromas of the coffee, soothing his senses immediately. He took a drink from the cup, savouring the taste on his tongue as he let out a soft involuntary moan at the comfort it brings. He was thankful Kaito did not notice his reaction to good coffee.

"It's never 'no reason' when you're here." Kaito admitted truthfully with a hint of shyness. Shinichi noted how Kaito tries to hide his face from him, spotting the tiniest tinge of pink on the cheeks.

"This is really good coffee." He abruptly changed the subject, slowly walking towards the direction of the station, though taking a rather long route and away from the bustling shopping district just in case the girls took the same route. "Where did you buy this from? Ekoda? I swear I've tried every coffee shop and cafe in Beika and none has beans with such aroma."

Shinichi glanced at the silent magician through their slow amble, curious and and worry showing through.

"Kaito?" Shinichi waved a hand in front of him. "Are you alright? You looked a bit out of it for a while? Maybe you should head back early…"

"No, no. I'm fine. And I can't waste this opportunity to spend more time with you." Kaito walked closer, "now, where should we go?"

"What do you mean where should we go?" Kaito's confused but adoring face made Shinichi nearly stutter over his next words. He took a moment to formulate his sentence, making sure to voice it so that it sounds believable, which was a hard task in itself seeing as the magician was a master of deception. "I'm walking you to the station. Then I need to head to my...appointment."

"Are you sick Shinichi?" Kaito leaned over, placing a hand on his forehead. "I don't feel a temperature…"

"No, not a doctor's appointment." He quickly added, shying away from the hand and hopefully away from and form of physical lie detection.

"Then where?" Large indigo eyes beamed at him like a puppy waiting on his master. It took much effort for Shinichi to turn away from such pleading gaze.

"I...need to meet a...um...client." He said softly.

"A _special_ client?" For some odd reason, Shinichi detected a hint of fear in Kaito's voice. Shinichi felt he could be implying many things but he knew from early on that trying to read Kaito was like trying to find a drop of hot water in a cold bath, an impossible task. So instead of guessing, Shinichi took the direct route of asking.

"Why are you afraid?" Shinichi is the one with the reason to be afraid of shadows jumping from buildings.

"Nothing…"

"It's not nothing if you're being evasive." Shinichi stopped by the street, taking care to observe his surroundings just in case.

"I'm not being evasive, rather, I'm just surprised you've already established yourself quite well as a private-eye even if you're still in school." Kaito scratched his cheeks in embarrassment. "That and you take on clients of questionable nature."

"Wha-?" Shinichi was confused, how did Kaito get from special client to questionable clients?

"Isn't that the code word for clients that does not want their identities disclosed?" The way Kaito positioned his head was just too cute that Shinichi found himself stepping closer to the body of the magician. He managed to force Kaito to take a step back, his back hitting the closest wall as he boxed the magician in with both his hands and how he positioned his body. Kaito looked stunned for a moment before his face morphed into a playful, come-beckoning smile.

"Well? Is this how you interrogate your clients? Or your suspects even?" Kaito looped an arm around Shinichi and pulled him in, leaning close to his ear. Shinichi could feel the small puffs of air as Kaito breathed so close. He felt how lips barely brushed past the shell of his ear as Kaito whispered "I must say, I'd be quite jealous if it was the case."

Shinichi wanted to blame his actions on suppressed hormones, or the fact that the streets were devoid of people. Heck, he would be happy if he could blame his next actions on the passing dog for all he cared. But in reality, it was all Kaito and how the magician always managed to stir up _something_ in him, which included the spontaneous grabbing and smashing his face into the magician's just so he could taste the words instead of hearing it. By the smile he felt from Kaito, Shinichi concluded the magician was rather satisfied and pleased with this outcome.

 **-TBC-**


	6. Obliviousness and Attractions

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: I feel like I just dug a hole for Shinichi to fall in, a hole of despair that is. Does that make me evil?

* * *

 **06: Obliviousness and Attractions**

School passed like normal, with Shinichi bored to the brink of insanity. He saw how Shiina fared no better than he was by the amount of doodling done on the once empty notebook. The girl continuously tried to provoke Shinichi with small drawings of flowers and in particular roses, play cards, and gems. Time and again, Shinichi asked whether she had feelings towards a certain magician, knowing that the pair of them shared more than they had with Conan. The young (?) boy was quite happy, if slightly annoyed, by the fact that he had to attend school. But at least this time he could stay at the Kudo house and not have to put on the Conan act 24/7, even though Ran already knew about the incident.

Strangely, it seemed that only Shinichi retained the so-call 'death curse' as only bodies appeared around him. Shinichi was not sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Still, falling bodies and boredom aside, Shinichi noted something quite peculiar happening in the classroom. Students, particularly male, often tries too hard in class, too enthusiastic and often showing off. Every time they did something, they would glance towards Shiina and it puts Shinichi on the nerve as he wondered whether someone had figured everything out.

The afternoon, thankfully, passed without further incidents. All was calm, or as calm as a pack of wolves being shown a prey, which Shiina technically was by the amount of adoring looks she was receiving from the male populace in the class. Why she attracted so many was somewhat of a mystery for Shinichi, who was not really keen to find out. When accidentally voicing his opinion, Ran gave him a rather pointed look.

"I can't believe you never noticed." She sighed with exasperation, shaking her head at the same time. Sonoko, who was walking home with them mirrored the girl's reaction. Shinichi shared a look with Shiina, hoping that she could shed some light. But seeing as the pair were one and the same, both looked confused.

"They became _her fans_. Much like how you, you oblivious mystery nerd, have gain a rather large following of girls." Sonoko oh-so-helpfully gestured back towards the school yard that they just stepped out of. Shinichi spared a glance and saw how female swooned as he laid eyes on each of them, how the male students tried to hide behind the nearest furniture, wall, or tree just as Shiina turned around.

"I always thought they were attracted to someone else." Shinichi muttered.

"My God, how dense can you be?" Sonoko exclaimed, "you were pretty lucky there Ran. Being paired up with _this_ idiot, with a guaranteed romance density of a rock, would probably bore you to bits."

"Shinichi's not that bad." There was a slight flush on her cheeks, no doubt remembering the handful of small gestures Shinichi made before he found his match in Kaito. "He's...well…"

Sonoko waited for a full minute before interjecting. "See? Even you find it difficult to name a particular incident where the detective nerd acted, or acknowledged, any form of romantic gesture."

"Can we not talk about my experience at romance?" Shinichi tries to steer the conversation away from his love life.

"Sure, we can always talk about your experience in the bedroom then." Shiina _helpfully_ added. Ran went immediately red but Sonoko quickly became rather interested at this topic and slowed her pace so she could walk side-by-side on the sidewalk.

"Oh, this should be good! So? Managed third base yet the pair of you? Who's topping?"

"Sonoko!" Ran exclaimed, stopping abruptly in front of a cafe. "That's...that's not something I wanted to know about my supposed little brother!"

"But Ran, I know you're curious as well but you're too shy to ask." Sonoko nudged at Ran. "Admit it, you find Shinichi-kun and Kuroba-kun hot."

"Sonoko~" Ran whined. She was about to add something but was interrupted by a shrill scream. Immediately, Shinichi snapped into action, not noticing how Shiina froze up in front of the storefront nor seeing how Ran quickly went over to comfort the girl.

Shinichi managed to ignore a lot of things when his head was stuck into an analytical mode, his eyes automatically taking in details about the surrounding, cataloguing the various facial expression. His motions gravitated towards the body on the floor, carefully avoiding the growing puddle on the ground. He reached out, just in case, to check for pulse but found none. When checking for further signs of life, it never hurt to double or even triple check when a life was involved, Shinichi found that the woman in front of his was truly and undoubtedly dead. Though by the state, she was not dead for too long a time. He quickly round up everyone inside the store, directing the store staff to call the police as he took the initial statements.

None of the suspects exhibited any form of nervousness throughout his talk, though many were weary of the body on the ground. Shinichi had the decency to cover up the body as best he can with his own coat, bemoaning the fact that this one would have to be either thoroughly cleaned or thrown away after this. Maybe he should start carrying large black sheets for such cases, seeing as he stumbles across dead bodies all too often.

"Kudo-kun!" Megure greeted the moment he stepped into the store.

"Keibu." He nodded, stepping out of the way as the forensics team bustle about. He gave a quick run down to the inspector, who quickly ordered his staff to take official statements.

"Have you found anything?" The inspector looked around. "At least you had the decency to leave the girls out this time." He commented with a nod.

"Girls?" Confused, Shinichi looked around until his eyes landed on the large window facing the street. To one side, Ran seemed to be supporting Shiina fully as Sonoko glared furiously at Shinichi. "Um, Keibu. Do you mind if I stepped out for a moment real quick?"

"Go on ahead. We need a bit of time to check everything through. By then, we should have the initial report from the coroner." He waved for Shinichi to leave temporarily.

"Shiina?" Shinichi approached the girl hesitantly with careful steps that barely made a sound on the concrete ground. Ran glared angrily at Shinichi before morphing into a more pitying expression. Immediately after calling out, Shiina launched herself at Shinichi. He made small shushing sounds, rubbing slowly on her back in hopes of calming her down. "Everything's fine, no need to panic."

"I...I just….I'm…" She stuttered as she buried her face into Shinichi's shoulders, trying hard to stifle her sniffling.

"Ran, do you mind walking her home first? I'll pick up Conan later…" He received a rather harsh glare from Ran, to which he took a step back as though physical distance can minimize the traumatic experience.

"You better." She growled before wrapping an arm around Shiina. "Come on, I'll walk you back and we can maybe stop by a cafe for coffee to calm your nerves…" She muttered softly to the girl. It had Shinichi wonder slightly at how different his childhood friend was treating the girl in comparison to him. After all, they were the same.

As though sensing his question at the very last minute, Ran turned her head and shook with a face full of pity. "You really don't understand the mind of a female do you?" She waved Sonoko ahead, making sure that Shiina was also walking along the path with her. Shiina looked to be slightly reluctant to be tugged away from her pillar of strength that was Shinichi but otherwise complied. "You might have been the same at one point," she talked softly in case anyone overhears, "but Shiina is more delicate than you are. And the reason I don't baby you is because I _know_ you. You'll never stop chasing after crime scenes, no matter how bloody or gory they are. You push past your discomfort and focus on your mind rather than the environment."

"I do not." He rebutted. "As a detective, I have to look at everything."

"Yes, everything but not _everyone_. You pay more attention to suspects and victims than your friends who were roped into the cases." She placed a hand onto Shinichi's shoulders, "I'm not blaming you too much for it. That's just your character and how you were raised up."

Without parting goodbyes, Ran walked away before Shinichi could respond to anything else. He only stared at the retreating forms until Megure called him back into the crime scene for a rundown.

The case was solved in record time that left him with enough time to pick up Conan from Beika park. Immediately, the moment he entered the park and was seen by Conan, the rest of the Detective Boys knew of his approached and pounced on him. Shinichi landed on his backside with the children all piled on top of him. Off to the side, Haibara and Conan watched, sniggering behind their hands.

"Shinichi-niisan!" Ayumi yelled, "why don't you join us for a game?"

"Not today, it's rather late." He glanced over at the nearby clock by the fountain, if he calculated corrected, they would have been playing for the past three hours in the park. Something that was not unheard of but was rather a surprise seeing as the Detective Boys had the tendency to stumble across some sort of mystery whenever they were in the park. "I should walk all of you home." He gestured towards the pile of backpacks near the shadows of the trees.

"Aw~" Genta kicked the dirt at his feet, "do we have to go back? We were just about to win against Conan."

"Really?" Surprised, he turned to the small boy in question who shook his head.

"I'm playing them with a handicap." Conan stated, obediently going over to the mound of backpacks. "I'm not allowed to move more than 3 steps each time before kicking the ball."

"So...no dribbling." It was a rather large handicap and he wondered what the boy did to deserve this.

"They managed to shrink the score gap to two goals." Shrugging on the backpack, the boy returned to Shinichi's side, now with a soccer ball underneath his arms. Not a moment too soon, Conan began bouncing it on his head, on his ankle, dribbling, and bouncing on his head again. It was clear how little exercise he had and Shinichi wondered would it be useful to help burn off some of his energy in the backyard.

Thankfully, the walk was not interrupted by any falling bodies, missing people, or stolen goods. Shinichi dropped off the children each at their own house, each time treated with a hug and an enthusiastic wave of goodbye. When it was only Conan and Haibara remaining by his side, the boy immediately dropped the overly happy smile and returned to his normally content smile.

"So? Do you have any results from your blood mongering?" Shinichi asked. He did not have to be too careful as the street was devoid of any living being.

"You should be happy to note that all three of you are healthy. Though Kudo-kun, it would not kill you to eat more nutritiously." Her stern gaze made both Shinichi and Conan, even though he was not the recipient of the look, shudder. "I'm hoping that with more people in the house, you, or perhaps your female counterpart, will cook more often."

"Conan is a growing boy." Shinichi made fun of the boy by messing up the hair, earning himself a rather annoyed look as Conan straightened himself out again. "Seeing as you reminded me, I might as well pick up some groceries."

"Not from the convenience store you aren't." Haibara was quick to latch onto his wrist and began pulling at the direction of the shopping district. "Might as well, you can carry my groceries as well. I don't trust the professor to buy it anymore. He always had a tendency to pick up snacks and hide them, as though I wouldn't know. Unfortunately for him, the receipts were always in the bag."

Both laughed nervously, knowing how the Professor was on a strict diet. It was just like him to sneak in a bit of goody in the bag.

'At least the Professor has not resorted to using children for his shopping…' The same thought passed through both their minds as they shared a knowing look.

 **-TBC-**


	7. Accidents happen, and not all are good

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: I've been wondering, is fem!Shinichi (that is Shiina) considered as an OC?

* * *

 **07: Accidents happen, and not all are good...**

Shiina should have known better than to refuse Ran's company for sitting alone inside the big mansion with the memories of the crime scene running through her mind is giving her nightmare fuels.

"It wasn't like this with Shinichi though…" She said to the empty space of the library. "We've never had trouble with compartmentalising before…" She let her hands run through the page of the opened book, eyes not really paying much attention to the words but instead staring at the black text with no amount of comprehension.

She wondered what changed and how much had changed since they _split_ into three different personas. It was difficult to imagine herself as anything but _Shinichi_ before their split as she retains all of those memories as well.

But before she could venture further into memory lane, the front doorbell buzzed and immediately, Shiina rose from her seat. It could be Ran who forgot something at the house, a regular occurrence that Shinichi, and by extension Shiina, was not surprised she would return.

"Coming." She called out, knowing full well it could not be heard beyond the doors. She hurried her steps towards the front porch. With her hand on the knob, she slowly opened the door with her mouth opened and words tumbling out of her mouth. "What did you-..." However, she did not finish her sentence for the person in front of her was not Ran. Rather, it was a certain messy-haired magician in a gakuran.

"Well, this is a nice surprise." His eyes roamed over Shiina and she felt slightly exposed. She hid behind the door, making sure to tuck her legs away. The Teitan skirt was slightly too short for her liking, even though many of her peers thought it was no problem.

"K-" She was not sure how to address him, she thinks of the magician in front of her as _Kuroba-kun_ but Shinichi addresses him as _Kaito_ now that they were officially together.

"What's the occasion?" The magician invited himself into the house, gently closing the door behind him once passed the threshold. "Not that I don't appreciate you normally but surely something must have come up for you to be, in all things, the female school uniform."

"Um…" It seems that many other traits were copied over as well as Shiina finds herself tongue-tied and unable to come up with a decent lie.

"Anyways, seeing as you're quite _dressed_ , why don't we go on a date? It's been some time since we last hung out together. You've been quite busy lately haven't you?" Without much warning, he produced a flower and tucked it behind her ears. She blushed slightly at the warm touch.

"Uh…" She glanced over at the clock. Shinichi is bound to come back anytime now, it usually takes two hours to wrap up the case on site, even if the paperwork that followed can take up to a few days to sort through and fully filled.

"Good." He took her lack of response as affirmation and puffed her school jacket to existence, which she clearly remembered it to have been left in the dining room, and draped it over her shoulders. "We're all set to go." He extended out an arm, face full of expectation and a joyous gleam in his eyes. Those glittering violets could talk a tortoise out of his shell and Shiina quickly wrapped her hand around the extended arm. There really was no reason to decline, after all it was just moments ago when she wished for some form of distraction away from the memories of death. It was times like these when she wished they did not have perfect recall as an ability.

The magician quickly dragged Shiina away from the house, towards the shopping street district. It was a comfortable silent walk, one that made Shiina acutely aware of their closeness and the warmth of skin underneath the black gakuran. She could not help but blush again when the magician looked at her with adoration, asking where they should go and whether there was anywhere in particular she wanted to visit. She shook her head, suddenly feeling very guilty at spending time with the magician.

'Although, it is quite nice…' she admitted to herself as they window-shopped. The small antique shop displayed a variety of goods on offer. The magician was currently enraptured by the small selection of antique jewelry on display, no doubt critically evaluating their worth. She could not help but feel her eyes were constantly drawn to the magician's form, how he would crease his brow slightly as he bent over to try to take a better look at one of the pendants, or how his shoulders would slump when he realised the flaw in the craftsmanship of work.

"Nothing catching your fancy?" She asked, eyeing the same piece the magician had seemingly been attracted to.

"No, the only thing catching my fancy is standing next to me." She must admit she had walked right into that one. The magician wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close so their hips were touching. "Hm…"

"Is something wrong?" She tensed, pushing away slightly. There was a moment of silence as he looked critically at her face. She could not help but suddenly want to hide away from the intense look.

"..." His eyes were focused on her own, as though it could bore into her soul. She bit her lower lips in nervousness.

"Um…" She glanced sideways, hoping for any form of distraction as a means of escape.

"Nope." He smiled, beaming and bright as his eyes soften once more. "Nothing's wrong." Still, his hands were on her hips. It seemed that the hand tightened fractionally, as though gripping into her. She had to wonder if, on the off-chance, whether the magician had noticed that _she_ was not _Shinichi_. Even so, his actions towards her had not changed. Rather, he dragged her to a nearby cafe with enthusiasm.

Looking at the cafe's interior, her mind screamed 'too much pastel' as the cream coloured walls were artistically painted with splotches of pastel yellow, pink, blue, and green. The white painted chairs sliding underneath the sky-blue desk complimented the emerald green flooring, making the area feel as though it was a scene from a park picnic.

"A table for two." His voice snapped her out of her observation of the surroundings. The waitress guiding them had this knowing look on her face as she explained the menu, pointing out the seasonal special and commenting on how they have a couples special. "We'll forgo the couple's special, instead I'll have a chocolate waffle set with hot chocolate, extra whipped cream, and she'll have a cake set, the lemon cheesecake with black coffee." He took the liberty of ordering for her, not that she would choose otherwise. Her quick glance at the menu revealed too many types of sugary confection.

"You'll have cavities before you turn twenty by this rate." She commented the moment the waitress left.

"But that won't be because of consumption. My need for a dentist is because I'm constantly exposed to your sweetness." He rested his head on his hand, looking lovingly at her as she tipped his head slightly to the side. He reached out, brushing away one of the stray strands of hair when she tries to duck down with embarrassment. "You don't need to hold back your sweetness on my account though." His hand rested on her cheeks, guiding her face so she would be facing him. "Is there anything you wish to say to me?"

"..." She bit her lips again, this time her upper lip. Internally, she debated the merits of telling the truth, that she was not Shinichi and is temporarily her own person. But with the way he was looking at her, she felt that by saying the truth would make him act distant to her.

The waitress returned with water and their cutlery just as the silence between them had thickened. It saved Shiina from having to answer as the atmosphere was broken with the setting of the table. The knowing look from the waitress returned when she saw how the magician hesitantly retracted his hand. She gave Shiina a sly smile before heading away to collect other orders.

The conversation between them changed, most likely because the magician in front of her must have sensed something odd. The focus of the conversation turned to how he pranked his class and complaints about a certain blond dating his childhood friend. There was very little focus on Shiina, mostly it was him narrating his various thoughts and plans for future pranks.

After the food, the magician escorted her back to the house. It was late and there was a light coming from the house. She feared the magician might have suspected something, as his brows furrowed.

"Must be my parents or something…" She offered quickly, turning his attention from the house back to her. "They like to surprise me like that."

"Oh course." He nodded, taking her hand into his and holding it up to his face. "It's been lovely this afternoon." He placed a quick kiss on the back of her hand. She felt her cheeks heat up at the action. Out of the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw movement from one of the upstairs window, a fluttering of shadow. Immediately, her blush cooled down at a rapid rate as ice filled her veins.

'It's not supposed to be like this.' She quickly retracted her hand, holding it tight against her chest and rubbing the back as though she was cold.

"Thanks for walking me back." She added in a whispery voice, turning her back towards the magician as she hurried back inside. "I'll...I'll call you next time or something. You don't have to deliberately make the trip over. It must be tiring."

"It's never tiring to have the opportunity to spend time with _you_." The way he stressed the words, it was as though he _knew_. But she doubted it very much as his actions were no different from how he acted towards Shinichi. At least from her current point of view. However, she felt her point of view was slowly becoming rose tainted. During the afternoon together, she felt extremely reluctant to let go of the supporting arm, how she felt the need to lean into the magician for warmth even though it was not a particularly cold day. She felt her gaze constantly gravitating towards the magician's face, having to turn away abruptly once the magician noticed.

'This was not supposed to happen.' She paused in front of the large doors, still feeling the intense gaze on her back as she fumbled for her keys. She suddenly remembered she never had keys to the house to begin with, it was Ran who had the spare keys and let them into the house. All other times, she had been with Shinichi and there was no need for her to have keys.

"Um...you don't really need to wait for me to enter…" She said hesitantly, there was no way she would be ringing the doorbell with him standing at the gates. He would notice, especially since she was sure it would be Shinichi who would answer the door.

"I want you to be safe." He encouraged. "And I won't leave until I see you're safely indoors." There was just something in his smile that says he would not take no for an answer.

There was a small click coming from the other side of the door and she thanked her lucky stars that Shinichi must have noticed her dilemma. Slowly, she raised her hand to the knob and turned it gently, just in case the sound was a figment of her imagination.

"Um…I guess I'll be seeing you later then?" She added hesitantly, turning halfway but with her hand still on the knob.

"You can be certain of that." The beaming smile made Shiina nervous once more, not really knowing how to act in front of the magician she opened the door just enough for her to slip inside.

"Welcome back." Conan looked up from his seated spot on the steps leading up to the second floor. "How was your date?"

"It's not a _date_." She growled out. "It will never be a date between Kuroba-kun and myself."

"Theoretically, he's in love with Shinichi, who at one time had been you." Conan brushed his pants as he stood up to approach her, "so it would not be a surprise if he actually does like you."

"Shinichi does not need me to cause him further worry you know. He's already questioning how far Kuroba-kun likes him." She pulled off the black shoes, stepping into the slipper Conan put in front of her. "Where is he?"

"Upstairs. He's the one who told me to open the front door."

Shiina winced, she had thought the wavering of curtains had been a figment of her imagination but apparently Shinichi saw the whole thing.

"Is he…?"

"Pacing around the room. Or should I say prowling around? He certainly looked as though he was constipated or something." Conan shrugged. "I'm going to start washing the vegetables, hopefully _I_ won't have to be the one slouching over the stove tonight…" Conan walked off as though he was not the least concern but Shiina could detect the hint of worry underneath the nonchalant shrug. Both of them, borne from Shinichi, were quite aware of his feeling towards the magician, knowing how he felt insignificant because of how they met. Shinichi had always compared his feelings against how the magician felt for him, always thinking the reason the magician stayed was because of how he met with Shiina first. Shinichi even compared his relationship with the magician with KID's relationship with Conan, because he knew KID is Kuroba Kaito and KID knew Conan first.

"Why is it so hard for him to accept that Kuroba-kun sees Shinichi as his own person and loves him unconditionally, even if the meetings so far had been unconventional…" She sighed, readying herself for the confrontation. When she said she has no designs on Kuroba Kaito, she was telling the truth.

"Shinichi?" She knocked on the door, though there was no response. She listened through the doors, hoping that Shinichi would approach and open, but there were no indications that he even heard the knock. Knowing she must be the first to take action, she eased open the door and peek inside.

Shinichi stood, staring out of the sliver between the curtain, looking at the now empty street towards the location where she had been standing just minutes ago.

"Shinichi?" She tried again, walking closer to her male counterpart.

"You know," his eyes never left the single spot by the gate, "I think he feels easier when dealing with _Shiina_ than with _Shinichi_."

She hugged Shinichi from behind, keeping silent as she listened to his rant.

"He's never looked like that when he was with me. Like I was...I don't know, delicate? Precious?" He shook his head. "Maybe, it's best if you stayed...And…"

"Shinichi." She forcibly turned him around so she could bore her eyes into his. She knew how frightening their blue eyes were, how they hold so much conviction and strength behind the colour. "You're not the type to give in so easily." She tightened the grip on his shoulders. "Kuroba-kun loves _Kudo Shinichi_. Not Irie Shiina, and certainly no Edogawa Conan. He confronted _you_ , confessed to _you_. Not either of us."

"But…" He turned his gaze away to look at the side wall but Shiina was quick to correct the move so they looked at each other again.

"No 'Buts'. I repeat, Kuroba Kaito Loves Kudo Shinichi. The only reason he and I went out is because I was negligent and he managed to surprise me. Otherwise I wouldn't have answered the door." She pulled Shinichi into her body, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug. "Stop being so unsure about what he feels. You know how _you_ feel and that should be enough."

Shinichi sank into her hug and Shiina worried. She feels that the longer they stayed separate, the more insecure Shinichi might feel about his relationship. And she really want the relationship to work. Mentally, she made a note to talk with Conan about this newest development.

 **-TBC-**


	8. A Moment of Reprieve

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: Is it strange of me to actually like seeing all three versions of Shinichi together?

* * *

 **08: A Moment of Reprieve**

Shinichi rubbed his temple as he surveyed the scene once more. It had not even been 24 hours since his last run-in to a crime and here he was, confronted with another dead body as he walked to school with Shiina, Ran and Conan. He, at least, had the mind to send Shiina on her way to the school with Ran. Conan, who had been walking next to Shinichi at the time, was one of the two (including himself) who found the body. So he had to remain behind until the police came to take their statements.

"I really should send the two of you to school…" Shinichi murmured, looking at the bystanders and picking out potential suspects at the same time. "But I know your education won't suffer because you're not attending classes."

"Of course." Conan beamed, sticking close to Shinichi. "Though I don't mind spending time with the Detective Boys."

The moment Division One arrived, who happened to be Megure once again, they were quick to approach Shinichi. After exchanging the necessary pleasantries, and with some admonition from the elder inspector about how children should go to school instead of lingering at crime scenes, Shinichi was given free reign of the crime scene. Conan tagged along like a puppy behind and Shinichi could not help but feel comforted at the extra presence. He knew sometimes children, or at least child-height, gives things a different perspective and after his encounters as Conan, Shinichi can appreciate a child's witness statement. It is especially more convincing of the words came from Conan of course.

"Well? Anything stand out to you?" He looked down at the child crouching close to the body. Shinichi had made his own examination just minutes before.

"Apart from the fact that the body looked too well put together? I'm suspecting the victim was meeting with a lover."

A scowl formed on both their faces. Crime of passion were always messy and could lead to disastrous results.

Once the police managed to find the identity of the victim, they visited the apartment, finding another body lying at the center of the living room. This one was less messy as the body merely slumped over a low coffee table. There were no traces of blood anywhere, only two tall glass and a bottle of champaign.

"I hate to jump to conclusions," Conan voiced from behind Shinichi, "but this case seemed quite clear cut."

While Shinichi wanted to believe the dead victim on the ground killed this particular one inside the apartment before committing suicide, he knew he still had to look for possible evidence to foul play. As forensics combed through the apartment, Shinichi looked into the apartment's decor. The place was sparsely furnished, as though the person only considers the place to be a temporary residence. Next to the television sat several silver frames, most of the photos featured the victim in the apartment, mostly posed but there were two candid shots. On one of the candid shots had the written inscription of 'Forever'. It was clear that the photos was taken by the lover. There was a single frame that laid on the coffee table, face down, and Shinichi waited until the forensic team cleared the area before approaching. He sighed when he saw the person photographed was not the same as the victim they found on ground floor.

"I hate it when you're right." He turned towards Conan. "You know, I haven't encountered such a case before." Cases ending with both victim and criminal dead was somewhat rare for Shinichi. At least this time, he did not have to witness the death. It had always made him feel incompetent when the criminal committed suicide because of guilt because he, as a detective, pushed too far or did not read the situation well enough to prevent such tragedies.

"Well, it's not as though you pushed them overboard." Conan came up, hugging onto Shinichi's leg where he could reach. "Come on, let's wrap this case up and bring you home. A nice cup of hot tea should calm your nerves."

For some odd reason, Shinichi felt the young boy was more like his caretaker rather than the other way around. He found that he had not minded much at the moment, possibly because his mind is too cluttered, with the case in front of him, the current situation of their split personas, and the continual worry of not being enough for a certain magician.

A tug at his hand snapped Shinichi away from further delving into his inadequateness and his feeble love for his magician. Instead, he laid out the various evidence indicating how the crime was committed then subsequently with the criminal committing suicide and ended up as a splat on the ground. Megure, having heard the story, volunteered one of his subordinate to drive them back home, indicating he would talk to their schools about letting them take the day off. Shinichi tries to argue that his attendance rate was already low but the elder inspector was adamant. Further helped by Conan's childish act of wanting to be with his 'nii-chan' after being exposed to something so saddening.

Sometimes, and quite often, Shinichi had to wonder if the world had pitted against him. Sitting at the back of the police vehicle (thankfully it was a private car and not the patrol vehicle, he had enough of a humiliation from the time he rode the patrol car in Osaka no thanks to a certain Kansai-ben detective), he stared out the window with bland and dull eyes. He wondered, would he also turn out as the criminal if he found Kaito to be more in love with Shiina than himself.

When they arrived back home,Conan was quick to tug Shinichi towards the library, forcefully (for an eight year old) pushing him into the plush seat that he often used. He was then handed a well worn book, corners slightly dulled and rounded due to many re-reads, spine crinkled because of the numerous time Shinichi had opened the book.

"You, stay here." Conan demanded before storming out of the library. Shinichi contemplated on standing up to peruse the vast selection in the library instead of falling back into the old favourite. But something in Conan's tone told him that he better follow the child's demand else he would suffer. Not wanting to chance fate, he opened the book on the first chapter to let his eyes wander over the black text.

The book, no matter how many times he read it and had all the plot memorized, still managed to draw Shinichi in like a moth to the flame. The words captivated Shinichi's attention where he did not notice how Conan entered the library with a tray bearing two cups and a large pot of tea. Shinichi made no response when Conan managed to pull a bean bag from another room and set it next to Shinichi's legs, where the boy began to lean onto his legs as he too read from one of the vast selection of books. It was only when Shiina announced her arrival back home when Shinichi finally tore his eyes away from the words. He glanced up at the clock, startled that it was already four. His abrupt reaction woke Conan from his light slumber at Shinichi's legs.

"Well, you two certainly look cosy." Shiina commented, striding through the threshold. "While I'm left all by my lonesome, slaving away at school, listening to boring lectures and having to haul up the many worksheets from the teachers…"

"Aw, you feeling left out?" Conan replied after a large yawn and dramatic stretching. He then pounced onto Shiina. "I'll be more than happy to give you a hug."

"Ack." Shiina, lacking in the physical strength that Shinichi posses, stumbled and fell onto her backside. Shinichi let out a chuckle. Conan and Shiina looked at each other, dumbfounded a only a second, before breaking out into a large grin. In both their minds, they deemed they have accomplished their mission of de-stressing their original counterpart. They both knew the stress of handling the multitude of crime on a regular basis and knew how their current situation had attributed to the mounting headache Shinichi was experiencing (he had been chucking back painkillers as though they were candies, even worse than his caffeine addiction). To see him show some positive emotion, even at their expense, was a good sign of things becoming better.

However, at the same time, the pair could not help but feel this might be the calm before the storm, where everything would turn sour.

 **-TBC-**


	9. Apologies and Not-apologies

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: Why does it seem hard to put all the Shinichi's together with Kaito? I seemed to have taken the route of always separating them...

* * *

 **09: Apologies and Not-apologies**

It was one of those days that Kaito felt slightly out of it, where he wanted to do something (for example pranking) but felt no inspiration for a prank, even though the Blond detective is so _enticing_.

"Kaito?" Aoko asked with a worried voice, most likely because he has yet to pull anything, not only pranks but he had not even pulled a magic trick for the past few hours. Clearly the class had been edgy and sent Aoko to investigate. "Is everything ok?"

"Define 'ok'." Kaito lean on his palm, looking out of the window instead of Aoko who was clearly more than just concerned.

There was a long moment of silence, where her eyes attempted to cut through the Poker Face Kaito had set up. She seemed to have made some headway as she replied with "You're...sulking?"

"What?" Immediately, Kaito turned around. "I am NOT sulking." He crossed his arms, turning his head away from scrutinizing eyes. Apparently, the whole class had been eavesdropping and turned at their direction. "Hey! Don't you guys have better things to do."

As a collective, the class shook their heads with synchronization fit for the Olympics events.

"Then are you all offering to become my _special audience_ in an upcoming trick?" He raised his hand, fingers ready to snap the moment he heard a single affirmative. There were many who looked apprehensive, one actually ran out of the classroom door, fearing whatever Kaito may unleash.

"Well?" Kaito's patience was running thin. "Are you all going to answer or do I have to make this _special performance_?" One of his doves appeared on the top of his head with a small puff of white smoke. In her beaks held a rather suspicious balloon.

The class shook their heads and quickly turned away from the conversation by the window, mindful to look busy and not appear the slightest bit interested at the reason why their resident prankster magician looked so glum.

"Ah-hem." Aoko coughed to regain Kaito's attention. "Are you going to tell me the reason at least?"

"Like I said Aoko, I Am Not Sulking" He stressed his words. He, at least, believed it was not sulking. Merely concerned. His detective had been quite distant lately, even when he took him, or more specifically Shiina, out on that impromptu date. Kaito had thought it had been a good outing, what with the lack of bodies littering their path and no one screamed during their dining experience.

"Sure Kaito, as if." Her tone of voice hinted otherwise. "And it just so happens you do not feel any hunger, or boredom, or even stiffness. You do know it's the end of school right? You've been sitting like this since you came in this morning."

"I...have?" Kaito was alarmed, how had he been so distracted. Though thinking about his detective would often make him lose track of time, but to stay still for this long was unthinkable. No wonder he garnered so much attention.

"Yes, even Hakuba-kun looked concerned." At that, Aoko stepped slightly to the left to reveal the Blond detective still in his seat, cautiously looking over his shoulder as he pretended to pack his bag for the day. Aoko then stepped back to obstruct the view, and most likely to stop Kaito from having any strange thoughts, or spontaneous bursts of ingenuity as Kaito liked to call his pranking outbursts. "Can you at least tell Aoko?"

"Nothing...just...maybe? I don't know." He rubbed his hand on his hair in a fit of frustration.

"Ok, now you're freaking Aoko out." She grabbed his hand and the bag hanging by the table. "Kaito is coming right this instance!" She forcefully pulled Kaito out of his seat, even as he dragged his feet on the ground. She also took the opportunity to haul them towards the shoe locker and flung opened Kaito's locker to throw down his outside shoes. "Change." She demanded, to which Kaito obediently did.

Aoko waited impatiently for Kaito to replace the shoes back into the locker, tapping her feet on the dirt ground. Once Kaito made certain the doors to his lockers were firmly shut, he turned back to the near-fuming Aoko.

"So…"

"We're going to that chocolate cafe." She stated firmly, hand on Kaito's wrist as though he would run away. "And you're going to tell Aoko why you look so glum for the whole day."

"Aoko~" Kaito began to whine, hoping it had some effect. However, his childhood friend seems to be immune to his act.

"No Kaito. Aoko will not be leaving you alone like this." She replied as though reading his mind, which she actually did. "Kaito is never the kind to sit still for the full school day, unless you're really are sick. In which case Aoko would drag you back home and make sure you stay in bed."

"Not sick…" Kaito muttered softly, not really believing his own words. While he was not physically sick in the normal sense, he had a feeling he might be sick in the heart (or the head as Aoko would probably say seeing as she, and many of their classmates, would insist he was insane and therefore sick in his head).

"Aoko will take your word for it." She pushed open the glass door to their destination. The sounds of a bustling cafe rushed out. Aoko motioned Kaito to enter first, promptly waving over a waitress to guide them to their seats. There was something in the waitress eyes that hinted on amusement.

"We have a chocolate afternoon tea for two if you are interested." The waitress suggested, moving away slightly to motion at the poster hanging on the wall depicting the spread of goodies for their afternoon tea special. While normally Kaito would jump at the chance to try out the many varieties of chocolatey goodness, Kaito shook his head and instead ordered a hot chocolate.

"Kaito doesn't want anything else?" Aoko frowned prominently. "It is unlike Kaito to not order cake or waffles with his drink…"

"It's nothing Aoko, just no feeling hungry at the moment." He stared sullenly at the glass of water in his hand that was left by the waitress just moments ago.

"Kaito," her eyes suddenly had a worrying edge to it, "you're worrying me…" It was not often for his childhood friend to revert back to first person. But it was clear that Kaito's lack of reaction was causing more than just worry.

Feeling he should at least confide in someone, and knowing that Aoko would not relent until he said something, Kaito began to phrase his question.

"Aoko, do you..." Kaito was not sure how to continue with the line of thought. After all, he had yet to tell his childhood friend that he now has a certain special someone. He turned the glass over in his hands, taking another sip as he tries to gather his thoughts.

"Is this about Irie-chan?" Aoko prompted. Kaito could not help but wince. "Did you anger her again?" In a sense, it was about Irie Shiina seeing as his detective had been in disguise when they went on the impromptu date. But at the same time, it was not about the female persona but his beloved male detective.

"Yes...I guess?"

"How can you _guess_?" She sounded incredulous, voice drawing in nearby patrons and the waitress delivering their beverages. "You either did or you did not. Now which is it?"

"I don't remember doing anything outwardly to anger anyone lately."

"Unfortunately, Kaito also does things that anger people inadvertently." She shook her head with a sigh, taking a sip of her hot liquid of choice. "Maybe Kaito would feel better after talking with Irie-chan, though do try not to anger her further."

"I'd never do that!" Kaito exclaimed, standing in an abrupt fashion that startled the waitress who was about to serve them. It was thanks to Kaito's quick reaction that saved their drinks on the silver serving tray from falling onto the ground. A bashful smile and quick apology (along with ample amounts of flirting) later, the waitress retreated from the area with a faint blush in her cheeks among Aoko's deep frown.

She pulled Kaito by his lapel, forcing out a pained choke from him, and nearly smashed Kaito into the table. "Did you do the same thing during your date with Irie-chan?"

"What did I do?" Clearly confused, and desperately trying to escape, Kaito wiggled from his position only for Aoko to tighten her grip. He resigned to his awkward pose on the table and repositioned himself to something more comfortable than having his face smashed onto the flat surface.

"You flirting with other people. Did you do that? If so, I have half a mind to do more than banging your head onto the table." There were limited circumstances that could reduce Aoko to first person pronoun, first was worry and second is true anger. Not the playful and explosive anger that produced entertaining mop chases around the classroom, but the type of anger that simmered and boiled underneath the skin that burns like acid. Clearly, Aoko was feeling angered at Kaito's display but he could not, for the life of him, figure out the reason.

Aoko sighed, not sure whether to pity Kaito for being so dense or for being so oblivious. "Kaito should not treat other females like they were treasures when Kaito is on a date with Irie-chan."

"But I didn't!" He profusely denied. "I didn't even give people flowers during dates!"

"Which means Kaito gives flowers to strangers passing by when he is not on a date. What if Irie-chan saw one of those instances and thought she was being neglected? Has Kaito ever considered that?" Kaito felt the release of pressure and he quickly squirmed back into his seat, hoping to be out of reach of his childhood friend. The pained frown on her face made Kaito pause before opening his mouth. Aoko seemed to have picked up on this and continued, "Kaito is normally considerate towards _other people_ , by which Aoko means strangers that Kaito only has passing knowledge of. If Kaito becomes acquainted with someone for an extended amount of time, Kaito tends to take us for granted."

"I do not!" He repeated once again in the same petulant tone. "I treasure each and every one of you, and yes before you ask I consider Hakuba a somewhat friendly face as well." He never acted, at least not much, in front of those he trusted. Those such as Aoko who knew him from childhood, the Inspector who chases him at night and is a friendly uncle-slash-father-figure by day, Hakuba who had somehow managed to worm his way into Kaito's heart even with his annoying habit of being a time-stickler, and of course his beloved detective who commands over Kaito's heart, all these people he never put on much of a Poker Face and always showed some bits of his true self (not that Aoko knows better, or the Inspector, though Hakuba may have some inkling about it).

"Aoko knows that, even dad knows that. Hakuba, maybe, Aoko can't be sure. But Irie-chan has only known Kaito for a short while so she might not understand Kaito's built-in reaction to strangers."

There was a temptation for Kaito to correct Aoko, that even though he and his detective may have only become acquainted for a short while, but Shinichi can see through each and every one of Kaito's action and could easily tell which ones were genuine and which ones were fake. However, this would also mean revealing the truth to Aoko and Kaito felt now was not the time or place to do so.

"Kaito needs to apologize quickly. Take Irie-chan out for cakes and deserts." She suggested hopefully.

"Not cakes." He shook his head. "Tried that before, apparently sweets is not one of the favourites."

There was a moment of determination before Aoko stuck out her hand. "Wallet." She demanded.

"If you wanted me to pay for the drinks, all you have to do was ask." With fake reluctance, Kaito pulled out his worn wallet and flipped through the bill. Though Aoko was not having any of that and took the whole wallet instead. "Oi!" He exclaimed, following quickly behind Aoko as she headed towards the cashier counter.

"We leaving," she slammed down several bills, "and also, can we have half a dozen of the dark chocolate tarts?"

"Aoko, I don't need chocolate tarts." He reached over, hoping to save a few bills but Aoko leveled him a look that had him shrinking away fast.

" _You_ don't need the tarts?" Her question made him wonder what she might be hinting at. "Aoko says Kaito _needs_ the tarts. He will take them over to Irie-chan and apologize for his inconsiderate actions!" The server made a rather prompt appearance, bringing over a small cardboard carry box held with a rather ornate ribbon. "Does Aoko make herself clear?"

Kaito gulped, carefully taking the box from the server to avoid further anger from his childhood friend. Aoko could be scary when angered. Whilst he normally would have puffed the box into non-existence, he kept hold of the box as a show of willingness to follow Aoko's instruction.

"Good. Now, Kaito had better leave right?" Her too-sweet smile brought shivers down Kaito and he waved a quick goodbye as he hurried down the street.

As he walked towards the station, he pondered whether he really did something wrong to annoy his detective. There was a rather strange sort of distance between him and his detective lately, it was as though Shinichi was trying to avoid him. He shook his head, not wanting to draw any strange conclusions for now. He really did not like to ponder about the prospect of Shinichi wanting to break up with him. Not when Kaito really do feel Shinichi was the one he could trust and spend his future with.

"Please don't let that be the case." He murmured with an eye towards the sky, praying his patron goddess. "Don't let him have any strange thoughts."

The journey towards to Beika was exceptionally short for Kaito today, most likely an effect of having his mind preoccupied with thoughts about his detective. Within moments, he found himself in front of the iron gates of the Kudo house. His palms had suddenly become sweaty, never before had he felt nervous at contacting and entering his detective's domain.

"Must be because I'm dreading the outcome." He muttered, hand poised over the call button in front. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the button, hoping that against all odds, his detective was not home.

" _Hello?_ " Strangely enough, it was a young voice that answered.

Kaito took a double take. It was a rather recognisable voice, one that he thought he would never hear again.

"Is Kudo Shinichi home?"

" _Hold on a moment._ " There was a click and buzz as the gates were released. Kaito approached the front doors, which opened just as he stepped onto the porch.

Kaito glanced downwards at the youth holding open the door.

"And you are?" There was a distinct weariness in the youth's voice. Kaito held back his instinct to wrap his arms around Edogawa Conan, whom he last heard was back in the States with his parents now that his family affairs had been settled.

"Kuroba Kaito. I'm…" He hesitated, wondering if it was ok to announce himself as a boyfriend. Deciding Conan was mature enough to understand the concept, he continued, "I'm Shinichi's boyfriend. Is he in?"

The cocking of Conan's head extremely cute, with his wide eyes and innocent expression. For a moment, Kaito thought Conan would refuse entry but the boy moved away and gestured him in.

"Shinichi-niisan should be in the library." Conan pattered in the direction that Kaito knew to lead to the literary sanctuary, leaving Kaito to handle himself. He took a moment to take the slippers from the drawers nearby, the pair he stashed away in the cupboard for times he visit the place.

"Shinichi?" Kaito peeked a head into the library, seeing Shinichi sunk into the leather chair with his head stuck in a book. Conan had snuggled into a nearby beanbag, settling in with a book with too many words to be suitable for someone his age.

"Kaito!" Shinichi exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his chair. There was a frantic look on his face as he did a quick visual check of the surroundings. Kaito quirked an eyebrow at the strange behaviour and wondered if his detective thought he might be attack inside his own home. "What brings you here?" He said with a sigh of relief.

"It was brought to my attention that I might have...offended you lately…" There was no easy way to put this, and Kaito felt it would be strange to just apologise outright. "I want to apologise for whatever it is that I've done and hope you'll forgive me?"

"What?" The questioning gaze from Shinichi told Kaito that he did not understand the situation. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I thought it might be something that I've done lately which made you distance yourself from me." It was not often Kaito showed his insecurities but he thought Shinichi deserved to see all of him instead of the masks he showed to the world. "And it was suggested that I should come bearing gifts and apologise for my behaviour."

"No!" Shinichi stood up with a start, rushing around the table and banging his leg on a corner in the process. Instead of continuing his steps, he bent over and nursed the bruised leg. Kaito winced along with the hiss that came from behind. He turned back to see Conan reacting to Shinichi's bout of clumsiness, near mimicking what Shinichi was feeling at the moment. Kaito found it strange but brushed it off as the youth being empathic.

"Are you ok Shinichi." Kaito knelt down to look at the leg area, a light blue patch was just beginning to form.

"It's fine. It happens all the time." Shinichi waved it off and tugged Kaito back standing. "And that's not the issue at the moment." The blues eyes held a sort of intensity that created pleasing shivers down Kaito's body. Not wanting to continue the conversation standing up, Kaito pulled them towards a nearby settee and sat down, placing the box of goodies on the side table. He was aware they were not alone in the library, Conan though small and inconspicuous has a rather noticeable aura not dissimilar to his detective's. But if Shinichi thought it was fine for the youth to hear this conversation, Kaito would not complain.

"Kaito," Shinichi's words cut through Kaito's thoughts, "you haven't done anything you need to apologise for." His detective's voice was guilt laden. Something must have happened to Shinichi and Kaito desperately wanted to know what it was. "It's...I should be the one to apologise. I haven't been fair to you lately."

"Shinichi…"

"I was too preoccupied with myself and I'm the one who neglected you. It's natural that you feel you're at fault because you were always so caring and kind towards me. And I'm sure I'm just not...not what you envisioned, both myself and this...relationship…"

There was something wrong with the choice of words, something dark and ominous. To Kaito, it sounds as though his detective was resigned to him calling this relationship off.

"What are you saying?" However, Kaito must discern the truth from the words. He did not want to jump to a wrong conclusion.

"I won't blame you if you find me boring or inattentive and wanted to rethink your decisions. I know what I am-"

"Stop Shinichi. Stop saying things like that." Kaito hugged Shinichi as hard as he could, bringing his detective closer than ever. "There's nothing wrong with you." Strangely enough, Kaito was the one close to tears when hearing his detective depreciating himself. "You're a great person, there's nothing wrong with being a great person."

"But, I'm…" Shinichi stuttered out.

There does not seem to be any intention of finishing the sentence even as Kaito waited. Instead, he pulled back, focused his gaze on the cerulean eyes, and told his detective with an unwavering voice, "you're a great person. I like you for being who you are, there's no reason for you to go doubting yourself."

Kaito gave Shinichi time to digest the words, though he had to physically stop his detective from bruising his lower lips as Shinichi tends to nibble on the soft flesh when in doubt. Kaito had to wonder why such thoughts came over his detective.

"Shinichi, did someone say something to you?" It was the only plausible explanation for his detective to be doubting his affections. "Do I need to go on a jealous rampage?" He added more as a joke, though there is the underlying connotation of him going out on a rampage just to seek revenge on the possible party responsible for this change of behaviour.

"No!" A strangely adamant response from Shinichi, "nothing! No one!" His insistence only made Kaito more weary. Kaito was quite sure something must have happened, but since when and by whom was something that requires a deep investigation. However, he was fine with leaving his detective to think he had dropped the matter all together.

"Now, I brought over some tarts that I think you'd like." He reached over to open up the cardboard box.

Conan had inconspicuously made his way over to them, standing slightly on tip-toes to peer into the box. Kaito smile at the childish display and wondered whether Shinichi also display such emotions when he was at that age.

"I didn't know you have someone else here, but I did bring enough." He was glad that Aoko decided half a dozen of the tarts instead of two. There would be enough left over for his detective the next morning.

"I'll serve it up." Shinichi took the box away with him and Kaito wanted to follow. But expectant blue eyes stared at him like puppies demanding to be pet. Not wanting to disappoint his audience, he gave Conan a smile.

"How about some magic then?" He pulled out a deck of cards. He remembered Conan was mature of his age so the usual confetti and colourful tricks would not work well. However, close proximity card tricks and tricks that are less flashy in nature would do well to keep the boy entertained.

 **-TBC-**


	10. Doubt

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: In this chapter, I present to you an overly adorable Conan, a rather wishy-washy and quite unconfident Shinichi, and a rather maternal figure of Shiina.

* * *

 **10: Doubt**

Shinichi was holding back the nervousness as he strode into the kitchen. Shiina was careful to have kept herself hidden behind the counter.

"Is he still here?" She asked from her seated position. She was nursing a cup of tea between her hands with a rather bored expression.

"Yea." Walking around the kitchen island, he reached up for plates and cups. Shiina stood up to help gather the fork and another pot from the cupboard.

They worked in silence, fetching the tea and plating up the tarts. Shinichi set up four plates, pushing one over to Shiina, before putting the box with the remaining two tarts in the fridge.

"You're shaking." Shiina took hold of his wrist. The tremble was just enough to be noticeable but not enough to dislodge the tart from the plate he was holding. "What's the matter?"

"He's here, that's why." Shinichi slowly moved the plate onto the serving tray before holding his hand before his chest like it was fragile.

"Isn't it time you actually said something to him then?" Shiina was quick to pull Shinichi into a hug, carefully patting his hair as a mother would to a child in the hopes of soothing aches and worries. "He deserves to know what is happening."

"But what if...what if…" Shinichi's stuttering was indicative of his fear towards Kaito's rejection. "If he found out, if he had a choice. Would he still…"

"Shinichi, we, that is Conan and I, have no outward feelings towards Kuroba-kun. To us, he is family, just as you are dear to us. Neither of us will take him away from you."

"I know that." Fear turned to frustration. "That's why I still think I shouldn't be the one to deserve him. Both you and Conan have a history with him. Me? I'm just...just... _me_. He's shown himself, his real self, to you and his other self to Conan. But I'm just...there...as though a spectator."

"Kuroba-kun loves _you_." Shiina had to stress, poking Shinichi in the chest to make it a point. "He confessed to _you_ , he took _you_ out on dates, he cares for _you_. Not Conan, and certainly not me." She wondered why it was that Shinichi was so blinded to the magician's affection.

"He took you out on a date as well." The soft muttering returned with the lowered confidence. "The pair of you went out together."

"He thought I was _you_." Shiina had to resist smacking her original self in the head. "Shinichi, why couldn't you get it through that thick head of your's that Kuroba-kun feels strongly for you because of who you truly are and not what you look like." She sighed, taking the plate from the counter before resuming her previous sitting position behind the counter.

"Shiina…"

"Go," she waved him off, "you two are long overdue for a talk anyways. You might want to send Conan out to play or something so that the pair of you can have some alone time. Better yet, go lock yourselves in a cupboard or something. I remember us reading an article saying enclosed space can help unresolved tensions." The connotation was not lost on Shinichi, who immediately went into a bright shade of red.

Picking up the tray, he realized his previous nervousness was gone and in its place was the strange embarrassment. He hoped that by the time he returned, the blush would have subsided.

The scene he returned to was a strange one. Kaito was covered in silly strings and Conan was dancing around the library with a wide grin on his face.

"I'm afraid to ask." Shinichi settled the tray on a confetti littered tabletop. "I hope you'll be cleaning up." He directed a stern gaze towards Conan.

"He was the one that started it." Conan pointed at Kaito. "He pulled the smoke and silly string out of nowhere with the intention of distracting me so he could re-colour me. I only retaliated as you would Shinichi-niichan." Conan latched onto Shinichi's legs. "It's nothing he doesn't deserve."

Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Kaito who was in the middle of sticking out a tongue like a child. Shinichi could not help but let out a small giggle. He quickly covered his mouth to smother out the sound but it was noticed by the magician.

"Oh? Laughing at my plight now are you?" Kaito stalked over with a clear intention of pranking. Shinichi took a small step back, hoping for a bit of distance but it was quickly closed with several steps. It did not help that Conan had remained attached to his legs and hindered his movement. "Say Conan-kun, should we punish your Shinichi-niichan for being mean to your Kaito-niichan?"

Wide eyes glance between the two and Shinichi only hoped that Conan had some amount of compassion to spare him of Kaito's pranks. Unfortunately, the twinkle in his eyes says otherwise.

"Hm...Shinichi-niichan was being mean to Kaito-niichan but it was only because Shinichi-niichan was only trying to protect me from Kaito-niichan. But being mean is something bad and could not go unpunished so...only if Kaito-niichan is punished as well." Shinichi looked questioningly at Conan's logic. He wondered whether it was an act of childishness or if it were truly his character.

'Since when have I even considered Conan as a person?' He asked himself with a shake of his head, ignoring the negotiation happening between Conan and Kaito. Looking at how they interact, it really does seem the pair were close brothers. 'Of course he is a person, Conan was once me. It's not a facade or a persona now that Conan has become real.' Even though they were real, both Shiina and Conan had voiced their opinion of wanting to right things as it stands. They were not beings that should exist and yet, they have yet to find anything to help them return to where they should belong. Shinichi had tried to look into the issue but between schoolwork and crime scenes, he did not have much time.

"Ok," Kaito declared after several moments of heated debate, "we have come to the consensus that the punishment should be spending a day together, alone, just the pair of us. And that I couldn't do any magic or tricks on the day and you can't solve mysteries."

It strangely sounded like Kaito was asking him on a date, one should hopefully involve no crime by the wording of things.

"So how's tomorrow for you?" Without input from Shinichi, Kaito quickly decided on the time he would come pick Shinichi up. Before Shinichi comes back to his senses, Kaito was already declaring he has much to prepare and would be leaving. Shinichi followed Kaito towards the door, waving idiotically as the magician passed the threshold. With the closing of the door, Shinichi looked down at Conan.

"What just happened?" His mind could not process anything for the moment.

"Well," Shiina appeared from the kitchen with a plate in hand as she leisurely took a small chunk of the tart into her mouth, "it sounds to me that Kuroba-kun wanted to spend time with you. Like a date I'd presume."

"Yes, I gathered that much but... _how_ did it come to this?"

"Really Shinichi-niichan, you should pay more attention to your surroundings if you want to be a good detective." The chiding tone of Conan's voice contrasted with the playful face. He skipped ( _skipped!_ ) back towards the library, with Shiina's off tune humming in the background as she too headed in the same direction, and Shinichi was left to stand by his lonesome.

 **-TBC-**


	11. To Ponder on Meanings

**-Love of Four-**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: I thought I'd try a different approach? Maybe? I don't know. But I do miss heists a lot...

* * *

 **11: To Ponder on Meanings**

Another week passed with Shinichi now too tired to do anything apart from sitting in the large wingback chair in the library, staring at the shelves of books. Shiina stood nearby, directing a worried gaze in his direction.

"I'm fine." He declared. The most recent case had been a draining one. It was not as bothersome as a serial murder case, but it was mentally draining where miscommunication led to multiple deaths done by multiple hands. Shinichi thought he might have read some similar case somewhere but he was too tired to look at the notes to ascertain his deduction.

"You don't look fine." Her personality had changed recently. From being an exact replica of Shinichi, with the exception of being weak against blood and murder, to a maternal personality something akin to Ran's only less physical in her show of annoyance.

"I'll _be_ fine then." He waved off the concern. "I only hadn't expected this week to be so hectic. Maybe this is all payment for that nice weekend..." His mind drifted back to the calm date he had with Kaito. There were no murders, no crime, not even someone jaywalking. Kaito had taken him to brunch, which was followed by a stroll in the park. They went to a weekend handicraft market and was thoroughly entertained by the street performances. At one point, Shinichi thought Kaito would go back on his word and perform magic on the streets but he stayed dutifully close to Shinichi, offering commentary when possible. He let himself smile at the memory as he fingered the small string bracelet on his wrist. It had been a spur of the moment thing from Kaito, picking up a pair of identical thread woven bracelet. The weave of blue, indigo, red, and white was strange but it suited them well.

"I see you're lost in your thoughts again." Conan's entrance came unheard, startling Shinichi upright. "And I suppose you haven't even read the papers yet."

"Something happened?" He reached out to the offered paper. It was unlike him to not have read the morning news but he had slept in, missed the morning class, then stumbled on that draining case during his walk to school. Shiina had been understanding and forewarned the teachers, not that anyone was surprised. He only made it in to school after lunch. After school was no better, he sent Shiina home first as he went grocery shopping but stumbled onto another crime scene, though this one already had Division One on the scene. He was only pulled into the case because one of the victim's friend demanded Shinichi to be part of the investigation. Not that Division One complained seeing as Shinichi tends to close cases within 24 hours of it happening, something that the police both loved and hate him for (love because of the closing rate, hate because of all the paperwork involved).

"Here." Conan scooted over and help open up the newspaper.

Shinichi peered at the paper opened up before him, it showed a full page spread of a KID note.

忘れる者は聞け。覚えた者は見て。理解した者はやれ。

黒と白の真ん中から美しきの光を奪うために天から舞い降りる白い翼持つの人は正義と礼儀を持つ者を訪ねます。

" _Those who forget, listen. Those to remember, see. Those who understand, do. That which possess wings of white will descend from the heavens to take away the beauty of the light in between black and white by visiting the one who holds justice and courtesy._ " Shinichi stood up to pace around the library. "This just...doesn't make sense. Well, not in the usual sense at least. It's not KID's style to write like this."

"But you still understand don't you?" All three of them were sporting the same knowing smirk.

"Ah." Shinichi nodded before heading back towards the large wooden desk, he ran his hands over the smooth surface. "The first line, those three sentences, they're all of the same origin."

"Confucius." Shiina pulled out a book from the nearby shelves, which just happens to be a book on philosophy. She flipped through the pages, opening to a particular entry dedicated to the philosopher in question.

"Yes." Shinichi leaned back onto the desk, looking up into the high ceiling of the library. "But it's not an exact translation of the quote. Translated, it should have been _What I hear I forget, what I see I remember, what I do I understand_ but even that still deviates from the original text. It talks about the path of learning, how to train the person and the mind to understand new knowledge."

"You know, that quote is awfully like Holmes." Conan piped up from his seated position, with his legs swinging playfully, " _people see but do not observe_."

"Kind of, not exactly though. Holmes was talking more about people's lack of awareness to their surroundings whereas Confucius was exploring the realms of how people should learn. They may sound similar but the meaning's different." Shinichi went over to pull out another book, a Chinese philosophy book by the spine's title. Opening the page, he flipped it open to the exact quote " _Not hearing is not as good as hearing. Hearing is not as good as seeing. Seeing is not as good as knowing. Knowing is not as good as doing_. It's talking about how things can be learnt through experiencing and action and until a person has done something, they would not know the true meaning of their learning."

"So…" Conan looked up expectantly for Shinichi to continue. Despite all three having come to the same conclusion of the heist location, it seems Shiina and Conan were not as confident in their deduction as Shinichi.

"The closest and most likely place is Yushima Seido, which used to be a private Confucian temple and an institution for education. It was once a host for a number of institutions including use as the Ministry of Education, museum, and host to the university." Shinichi placed the open book onto the table surface and flipped out his phone. "To my knowledge, there's nothing much inside the place. There is the inner hall, not really opened to public, and there's the Confucius statue. But otherwise, there are no gems or valuables of note…" His fingers scrolled through the numerous articles.

"There." Shiina somehow managed to sneak behind Shinichi and rest her chin on his shoulders. She pointed at a particular article. "The university is hoping to use the inner hall to host a short term gallery. But why would KID go after books when he's been targeting gems?"

"Might be because he was bored." Shinichi shrugged, dislodging Shiina from her perch. "Either that or it's because he had to make a monthly appearance and thought this might be as good as any…"

"That's just too risky isn't it?" Shiina flopped down onto the leather chair. "He's taking so many risk for what? "

"Who knows. I never had the chance to ask…" Though now that he thought about it, they never did tell each other about secret identities. Shinichi was quite sure Kaito suspects that he knows something about KID but since they never talked about it, it was merely assumptions. Same with Shinichi not having said anything about his time as Conan.

"What other exhibits are there?" Conan now crowded around Shinichi, standing on tiptoes like a child would when in the presence of something that attracted their attention.

"Rare books and gifts offered to the university as thanks…" Shinichi scrolled through the list. There were some with pictures, but a majority were just words. "And the exhibit would be for a duration of a month."

"So although we know the location, we still don't know the target and time." Conan moved his attention to the newspaper on the table surface, half of his body was leaning on the table top. Taking pity on the boy, and Shinichi wondered if that was why so many people wanted to pick him up when _he_ was Conan, Shinichi picked the boy up so he could sit on the table surface proper. He was treated with an unsatisfactory glare but Conan's attention quickly turned back to the text.

"Not exactly," Shiina pointed at a phrase in the note. " _In between black and white_ , that's the time."

"Half in darkness, half in light. Seeing as KID operates during the night and his heists are often linked to the moon, it means that he would strike during the half moon. Another anomaly for the thief." Shinichi tapped his chin. "But we still don't know the target."

"What if we go take a look?" Conan looked up with wide blue eyes, reminiscent of a puppy. "They might not be opened to the public as yet, but you can probably trick your way in."

"You're trying to turn me into a thief aren't you?" Shinichi mussed up the neat hair, teasing the boy. "I'll have you know that although I don't follow the law to the letter, I do follow it in spirit."

"Yea right." Both Conan and Shiina gave him a look of disbelief. "Running around the crime scene, picking up evidence and pocketing them, interrogating suspects and sometimes tricking a confession out of the suspects, I don't think any of those actions are what we can call _legal_." Conan scoffed.

"It's in the spirit of justice. We still nabbed the criminal at the end."

"We kick soccer balls with enough force to damage concrete, and these are normally directed towards those criminals that we chase. I'm surprised that the police never said anything about it." Conan kicked out, managing to hit Shinichi in the stomach. Though without the kick enhancing shoes, it was not as painful as it would have been.

"Still…" Shinichi glanced back at the papers, knowing he pretty much lost the argument. "I guess we can go and take a look at the exhibit. I'm guessing they're doing the setup now in preparation for the opening...tomorrow?" Shinichi had to look twice at the date. It was rare for KID to leave so little time in between notes and heist, a first if his memory was correct. He has yet to check on the lunar calendar but he had a strong suspicion that KID would strike on the opening night for dramatic effect.

"Cool! I'll go grab our jackets." Conan jumped down and ran out like an over enthusiastic child.

"Really, that boy." Shiina followed sedately, in a manner reminding Shinichi of how Ran would follow at a slow pace behind Conan. As time passes, he sees more of Ran in Shiina and wonders if he too has some of those traits.

The three of them did manage to gain access into the hall in question. Most of the staff were still setting up the security measures but one particular corner had posted security guards around a crate. The university staff in charge approached them with an amicable smile. Shinichi assumed it was an amicable smile since he did contact the university just moments ago and they must have had words and notified the on-site staff of his arrival.

"Kudo-san, it's such a surprise." He shook hands with Shinichi with enthusiasm. He suspects the staff is a fan of his and doubted the man was actually surprised. "And these must be your assistants." He eyed Shiina with eyes that spoke more that just mere appreciation. Shinichi moved so that he could cover the girl from view.

"We came because of a heist notice from KID." Shinichi pulled out a newspaper clipping. "It hinted towards his intention to steal something from this exhibit and we wanted to see what it could be."

"Well, mostly it's just books donated by our alumni and university patrons. However, we do have several expensive pieces." He motioned for Shinichi to follow him towards the guarded crate. "We're still setting up the security measures but I guess we can show them to you now." With a crowbar, the man opened the crate to reveal a locked suitcase.

"Is it really fragile?" Conan asked, peering into the crate without a mind for the splinters and nails sticking out. Shinichi pulled the boy back, no point in having Conan hurt himself. In return, he received a frown but Conan still complied and stuck close to Shinichi.

"Hm?" The man pulled out the suitcase and placed it on the edge. "Not really, just that it would be more difficult to steal the whole crate than a single suitcase. Thieves generally target things that are easier to steal rather than things that requires them to jump through the hoop so to speak. With the exception of KID of course. He just takes whatever he wants." Amusement shone in his eyes and in his words. "Here're the valuable pieces. This one over here was donated fifty years ago. It's a rather ornate paper weight made from black onyx. This crystal tree, which we believe is designed to be a pen stand, was gifted fifteen years ago and the final piece here is an ink bottle, gifted ten years ago."

The black onyx had been carved with ivy all over the inky surface. There were small crystal insets, probably to represent flower buds, strategically placed to reflect off the best light. The crystal pen stand was made in an abstract form of a tree, with the base slightly more spread out and having rougher carvings that reflect light in a harsher angle. The mid section, likely the trunk, was smooth and devoid of any carvings, whilst the top part was not only carved with leaf motifs but also had pieces of green crystals and emeralds of varying shades adorning the rim. The ink bottle was by far the most delicate of the three pieces. While the bottle itself had nothing much to note, though it was geometrically cut, it was the stopper that had attracted the most attention. Made in the shape of a Botan flower, the petals consists of various shades of pink and red. But at its very center was a rather bright yellow stone.

"That would be a yellow diamond, quite rare for such a large carat to be set into something like this." Shiina commented from behind, peering over Shinichi's shoulders. Shinichi nodded, coming to the same conclusion.

"And people just gifted these to the university?" It was hard for Shinichi to believe people would just give them as thanks.

"Well, they are donations to the university's cause if that's what you're asking. The university receives all sorts of gifts. Books and monetary gifts are most common. Though at times we do receive things such as these. We generally keep them in our gallery on campus, and sometimes auction them off at charity events but that's very rare." The staff took each of the pieces out with gloved hands, setting them on a nearby table. The security guard gave them a frown but otherwise said nothing.

Shinichi lean in to examine each piece. All intricately made from his non-expert eyes. "These must cost a fortune." He murmured, "but isn't it a risk to show them here? Didn't the insurance people complain about the lax security?"

"They did. But we came to a compromise. The exhibit would only be held for a short duration, ticket sales is based on pre-registration so that we can control the number of people entering. We do have surveillance and security. Cameras are trained on our exhibition pieces." He motioned to the various dark corners. "Of course, setting them up had been another issue that we had to deal with but all is going well. At the opening, only selected guests and media people would be able to attend." He pulled out an invite and handed it to Shinichi.

He looked at the white cardstock. Flipping it over, it held a time and date written in black cursive writing framed in a silver border. The date coincide with the date they identified back at the home. A quick browse on his phone's calendar revealed that it was also the date when there would be a half moon. There was no need to guess when KID would strike.

"I think I should inform you that your opening ceremony would be the time KID will come steal your exhibit." Shinichi handed the invite back but the staff shook his head.

"That's your invite." He said, pushing the card back towards Shinichi. "We'd feel better if you were to attend. As a form of security some might say."

Tucking the card into his pockets, he was about to ask the man to speak with his superiors and reconsider rescheduling but the sudden ringing of the phone interrupted their time.

"Sorry about that. I need to take this. Feel free to take a look around the hall. If you see anything suspicious or anything we can improve on, do let me know." The man rushed off to the side, leaving the three delicate pieces on the table.

The three of them spread out into three direction, much to the ire of the security guards. Conan's small stature was already difficult to spot but within the dark hall, it made the task even harder. Shinichi heard one of the guards commenting on Shiina's appearance, something along the lines of "just my type" and Shinichi had the urge to kick the guard in the shins. He stuck to the potential showcase areas where the staff were busy assembling the various pedestal and lighting.

"Kudo-kun?" A familiar voice called from behind him.

"Hakuba-kun? Nakamori-keibu?" He was surprised to see the pair of them strolling through the front doors together, along with several uniformed police officers flanking behind. "Did you also figure out the heist notice?" Though before hearing any form of reply, Shinichi felt someone pounce on his back and his instinctive reaction was to throw whoever attacked him in the overhand throw Ran taught him a while back.

"Wah~!" The exclamation followed by a loud thud.

Shinichi's attacker landed in front of him, holding onto his head in pain.

"Kaito!" Shinichi quickly knelt down, examining the type of damage he did. "Are you hurt badly? Don't startle me like that!"

"Couldn't help it. I wanted to surprise you." With a sheepish look, Kaito took Shinichi's offered hand to stand up. "I need to ask, when did you take up martial arts?"

"It's not martial arts, merely self defence." Shinichi helped pat out the dirt on Kaito's clothes. "Seriously though, don't do that."

"I'll remember to wear a bell next time then." Kaito took Shinichi's hand and gripped it tightly. "I just didn't expect you to react so violently."

"Ahem." The inspector coughed to bring the situation back to the present. It was obvious he wanted to ask Shinichi how he knew of the magician but decided to abruptly change the topic after seeing that gleeful gleam in Kaito's eyes. "What are you here for?"

"The same as the pair of you." Shinichi automatically answered with the assumption that they too were here on a hunch. He was calm for a split second before remembering he was not supposed to be alone. Conan and Shiina were also on premise and if Kaito saw all three of them together, Shinichi was not sure what to expect. He feared the magician would once again accuse him of lying and playing with his emotions.

"KID sure knows how to select his targets though." Hakuba looked around their location, "this place has too many hiding spots."

"Ah, keibu-san!" The university staff that greeted Shinichi earlier returned with hurrying feet. "I was just informed of your arrival."

The inspector soon pulled the staff aside and began their long and arduous discussion, though some might call it an argument, on manpower and security placement. Tuning out the rather animated conversation, Shinichi focused on Kaito.

"And you? How come you're involved?" Shinichi was not sure whether he was here on his own accord or if Kaito tricked the inspector into letting him come. It would not be the first time the magician managed to coerce his way into a heist location as a civilian.

"Nakamori-keibu came to our school to pick up Hakuba for his input on the note. I just happened to be nearby and was noticed by him. He often asks me to heist locations as a consultant." Kaito shrugged as though it was a normal thing. Shinichi was not sure whether to believe him or not, but he would take things as face value for now to save himself from a potential headache.

"It was quite clear what the thief was trying to do." Hakuba chipped in, "the note is not his usual style and the references were rather blatant. If I had to guess, this was planned rather hastily and the note was sent out as an afterthought."

"Wouldn't be the first time for KID to be pulling of heists at such short notice." Shinichi did not find it all that surprising seeing as jewel exhibitors in Tokyo area would rather keep a low profile on their newest and latest collection. It must be a pain paying for all those insurance premiums 'I wonder if they have a special plan for KID-related theft.'

"Yes, but all those times were response to challenge style heist. This one, it was as though he was not planning to target this from the beginning."

While Shinichi cast his mind back to the various heists, he realized what Hakuba said was true. Most of those times, it had been because a certain Suzuki corporation advisor wanted to challenge KID for the front page cover of newspaper.

"Have you identified what the thief is targeting then Kudo-kun?" Hakuba peered towards the end table, "I assume you're here because you have everything figured out. Though why you said nothing to the police is a mystery."

"It's not that I didn't say anything. I came here to confirm my suspicions before attempting to tell them." Shinichi defended. "The website was severely lacking in the exhibits' description and I wanted to know what KID wanted."

"But time and location, those you know. It's crucial for the police to receive such information beforehand." Strange as it was for the English detective to show such hostility towards Shinichi.

"It's by the back." Shinichi pointed to the table with the three artifacts, ignoring the accusation aimed at him. "If you'll excuse me. I'll be going." Feeling slighted, Shinichi coolly walked off towards the entrance, hoping Conan and Shiina were already outside. He was thankful for the dark atmosphere and for the fact that Kaito only paid attention to him and nothing else inside the room.

Three steps from the entrance, Kaito latched onto his arm again. "Just where do you think you're going?" The playfulness in Kaito's voice spelled disaster for Shinichi. He hoped the magician was not planning to walk him home or anything.

"It's late. I should head back."

"And leave little ol' me to Hakuba and the police?" Fake tears threatened to fall from Kaito's eyes. Shinichi was hard pressed to be coldhearted and turn the magician away.

Shinichi was tempted to reply with a remark about KID needing to case out the heist location but he refrained and instead asked "Don't you have something to do here as well? Didn't Nakamori-keibu ask you to come as a consultant?"

"You don't like me anymore…" Even knowing the tears were 100% fake, it still pained Shinichi to see them rolling down Kaito's cheeks. He was sure the magician was trying to guilt trip him into do something.

"Kaito…" Shinichi reached out, hand poised to rub the wetness away only to be grabbed by Kaito's hands. "OK, you caught me. What do you want then?"

"Dinner?" The hopeful tone in his voice made it difficult for Shinichi to refuse but his mind told him that it was best to refuse the offer. His hesitation must have spoken in volumes for the magician as the light in his eyes dimmed considerably.

"Look, why don't you finish up here first then call me? I…" He wracked his brain for a suitable explanation. "I need to do something in the area first. I'll meet up with you later ok?" Before the magician could voice his opinion on how fake the reason was, Shinichi walked briskly away without another glance.

 **-TBC-**


End file.
